The Benefits
by Bl4ckC0bra
Summary: One night of drunken sharing and Harry and Daphne think they can move on. But things are never that simple and sometimes you get more than you bargained for.
1. The Deal

**A/N This is the first chapter of my second story The Benefits. It will be a dark Harry story, but he will not be evil or side with Voldemort. The pairing will be Harry/Daphne. At first we're going to see a very canon-esque Harry (depressed, pushes people away, etc…) But as the story progresses he and some of the other characters will come into their own. I won't be putting any more chapters up for this story until I finish Darkness Falls Upon Us, but I am looking for all the feedback I can get on this story idea. This is also my first attempt at a first person perspective in almost 7 years, so sorry if some of the grammar and syntax is wrong. I'll do my best to clean it up in the later chapters. (Also as a side note I'm still deployed, but I was able to get access to a computer with internet and post these chapters up. Darkness Falls will be continued in 2 months or so. Cheers to all my readers!)**

I didn't know where I was going to go, but anywhere away from the accusing and disbelieving eyes was good enough for me. The halls seemed to be a blur as I moved quickly down one after another attempting to find myself so lost that no one would be able to find me.

The staircases seemed to be in a good mood as they shifted each and every time I approached one. If anyone even cared enough to try and look for me they would never be able to catch up. I kept up my wandering for another fifteen minutes or so before finally coming to a halt in front of an old wooden door.

It wasn't the normal type of classroom door I had become so accustomed to seeing. This one was more decorated; it had a faded silver trim and worn away carvings on the door. Even the handle was more decorated than the usual metal rung that hung on the other doors. If I had to take a guess I would say I had come across an old professor's office. At the moment I didn't really care if it had been an out of service loo though. I just needed a place to let my frustrations run free.

I tried to pull the door open, but found it to be locked. I slipped my wand out of my pocket and brought it around in front of me to aim at the door. I whispered a quick alohomora and was satisfied when I heard the tell-tale sound of a locking mechanism click.

I pulled the door open this time meeting no resistance. I turned to make sure to close the door quietly and secure the door again, but stopped when I felt the tip of a wand press into the nape of my neck.

It was strange; normally if I was in any danger the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up and alert me. Or at the very least it gave me a better chance at survival. It was like my sixth sense I suppose. This time however I had been let down and now stood an easy target of whoever was behind me.

Strangely this didn't bother me though. I only hoped that whatever they chose to do to me would end my existence. It was what I deserved after all; I had cost Cedric his life so it was only fair that I lose mine as well. I was momentarily shocked when my captor finally spoke. It wasn't the rough voice of a man as I had expected, but rather a more soft melodious voice that was clearly female.

"Slowly, very slowly I want you to replace the locking charm that was on the door and then pocket your wand. If you try to do anything more I will cleave your head from your shoulders. Nod once if you understand this." She said to me and I found myself tempted to disobey, but involuntarily I found my head nodding in the affirmative.

Cautiously I raised my wand from my side and with a quick flick of my wand the door was once again locked. It was an odd thought that ran through my mind then; it was like I was sealing my own grave.

My hand fell back to my side and my wand found itself once again resting in my pocket. For a few moments I stood still waiting for my next command. Nothing came and I thought about turning around only to have the wand press more firmly into me when I started to rotate.

"Don't turn around. I'm trying to decide what to do with you." This was a small comfort to me because at least my fate hadn't been decided yet. Maybe if I could keep her talking I would be able to convince her to spare me.

Hesitantly I began to speak making sure to choose my words carefully. "I could just leave now. I haven't seen your face and honestly nothing has been done. I was merely looking for an abandoned place. If I had known you were in here then I would never have opened the door."

After a pause which felt like an hour, but in reality was probably only a minute I heard my captor sigh and felt the wand drop from my neck. I took this as a sign that it was okay to turn around. This time as I began to rotate I found nothing to stop me. By the time I was finally facing into the room to get my first look the other occupant of the room had already moved to the other side and was sitting on a red sofa.

I got my first good look at the girl when I took a few more steps into the room, my hand buried in my pocket grasping my wand just in case she changed her mind. I didn't recognize her, but that didn't surprise me. After Ron and Hermione has abandoned me during the tournament I began to realize just how sheltered I was at school. I had no friends outside of Gryffindor that I could think of, and that had bothered me.

When I was younger and living with the Dursleys one of the few things I had craved had been friends. When I came to Hogwarts I had been given my first real chance to have as many as I wanted, yet I had let opportunities pass me by because I thought of people by their house.

I had come to realize that not all Gryffindors were good kind hearted people. The experience with Pettigrew my previous year and just hours prior showed me that. So if not all Gryffindors possessed their house attributes then the same could be true for people from all houses I figured.

I continued to observe the girl who just minutes prior had held me at wand point. I was looking for anything that might give me a clue as to who she was. The first thing I noticed about her was her jet black hair. It hung just a few inches past her shoulders and had a shine to it. She was wearing robes of a higher quality than the normal school robes, so she was either a pureblood or a half blood with wealthy parents.

Currently she was barefoot, but her toes had been painted a dark shade of green so that could be a sign that she was a Slytherin. Normally I would have panicked right at that thought, but I had made up my mind to expand my circle of friends and this was probably the first and possibly the only chance I would get with a Slytherin in the foreseeable future.

When I finally looked back up into her face it was to find a pair of bright blue eyes looking back at me. They stood to be a shocking contrast to the girl's otherwise dark features. I noticed the eyes appeared to be slightly glossy and her cheeks looked red and puffy. I had the distinct impression I had walked in on this mystery girl while she was crying and suddenly felt guilty.

I hadn't set out to disturb anyone else's time alone. Only to find myself somewhere to go that I could relive the horrors of the past day by myself.

Her voice drew me from my quiet observation.

"Potter, if it isn't too much trouble for you maybe you could stop staring at me. It's kind of creepy and I get leered at enough."

My previous melancholy thoughts about the tournament were momentarily forgotten as her accusation hit me. She thought I had been checking her out this whole time, and I mean it's not that she wasn't beautiful, but I hadn't meant to come across as a pervert. I opened my mouth to try and protest the accusations already knowing it was probably useless.

"I wasn't leering at you. I was trying to find something I could use to recognize you by. I don't know very many people in this school it would seem and I'm at a loss as to who you are." I answered her honestly seeing as I hadn't been doing anything wrong.

She seemed to ponder this before shrugging at me. "Whatever you say. Just don't do it again. As for the not knowing who I am, well how about we just keep it that way for now. Aren't you going to ask how I knew who you were?"

This time I snorted at her. "Are you kidding me? I mean everyone knows the oh so famous Harry Potter! The boy-who-just-wouldn't-fucking-die!"

I realized I might have gone overboard with the sarcasm and hyphenated name, but for the first time since I entered the room I saw the girl crack some semblance of a smile, but as quick as it was there it disappeared again.

"If you're looking for a pity party Potter, you've come to the wrong spot. If you're just looking for a spot to wallow in your sorrow and self-pity then I suppose there is a nice dark corner over there you can have."

She made some grand gesture towards the far side of the room where I found my eyes wandering to what was indeed a dark corner. This time it was me who couldn't help smiling slightly. It was the first time I had done so since I saw Cedric…I shook my head violently I didn't want to think about that right now.

I decided to try and keep the mood light-hearted to help distract my thoughts. I gave a deep exaggerated bow before responding. "Oh you're so kind to me queen of the sorrow sofa. My own personal corner oh boy I just can't wait to test it out!"

I turned my back towards her thinking that I had gotten the last comment in, but stopped in my tracks when her voice cut through the room again. "Damn right I'm the queen and don't you forget it Potter. Now hurry up and get to your corner peasant!"

A full blown smile played across my face at that as I made a show of hurriedly scampering to the corner. Even though I couldn't see her face I suspected she was smiling just as large as I was. When I reached the corner I sat down against the wall and pulled my robes tight around me to fight off some of the chill from the cold stone. It was then that I remembered the special medicine I had brought with me. It was a present from Fred and George last year after a Quidditch win, but I had just never had an opportunity to use it. Now however I assumed this would be as good a time as any.

I pulled the bottle of fire whiskey from my cloak and cracked the seal. The sound drew the girl's attention, but she said nothing else before she went back to staring into the distance.

I took my first sip and nearly gagged as the amber liquid burned as it went down. After the initial shock though I found that the taste was actually pretty good. I took a bigger swig this time and suddenly my head felt a little bit lighter and I began to warm up.

After two or three more drinks from the bottle I couldn't keep quiet or still any longer. So I decided to get up and make my way over towards the sofa. My movements attracted the attention of the dark haired beauty already sitting there.

She didn't say anything until I had plopped myself down on the cushion next to her.

"I guess you didn't fully understand when I said the dark corner Potter so let me make myself really clear this time. You are to stay in that corner and not wander anywhere else."

In my new found state of awareness and boldness I pretended to ponder this before answering. "I would do that, but the company is just so much better over here and besides there is more than enough room on this sofa for both of us."

She raised an eyebrow at me this time. "There is enough room if we're sitting, but what if I want to lie down? You are quite clearly in my way then."

I looked at her then at the sofa, and back to her. What I did next I definitely wouldn't have done if I had been sober. I grabbed the pillow out from behind me and put it on my lap.

"Well now you can lay your head on the pillow and stretch out. I don't mind at all." I leaned back and gestured to her to try it out to show her I was being serious.

"Clearly that whiskey has affected your brain more than I originally thought if you just tried to get me to use you as a pillow."

I frowned at her and grasped my heart. "Ouch, that hurts right here. I didn't think I was that repulsive. Alright we'll make a compromise. When you're ready to go to sleep I will move back to my corner, but right now I'm not tired."

She sighed at me but nodded her head in the affirmative before turning away and staring at a blank wall. I tried to do the same, but soon found my concentration wondering. The room didn't have much to entertain me with. There was the sofa, a few chairs and a big wooden desk. It looked to be mahogany if I remembered anything at all from my classes at primary school, which I probably didn't.

I took another drink from my bottle which didn't seem to be getting any less full. Suddenly I wondered if Fred and George had done something to it to make it refill itself. We had read briefly about refilling charms in class.

With every drink I took I felt my confidence start to grow. That was when I realized that I was being a terrible guest.

"Would you like a drink?" I held the bottle out my companion. She eyed it for a minute before taking it from me and downing a large quantity.

"Fuck it, obviously you aren't going to just let me sit here and enjoy the peace and quiet Potter. So let's just drink this bottle and then go to bed. Who knows maybe this will help to chase away some of the sorrows we have."

I smiled at her as I took back the bottle and took another drink. "So what has you here then mystery girl? Usually I'm the only one out brooding during this time of night."

She took another large drink before answering me. "Potter we aren't friends and you don't even know who I am. Why would I share something so personal with you?"

I blinked owlishly and then spoke as if it was common sense. "Those are the reasons you should tell me. Besides after we finish this bottle most likely neither of us will remember this conversation. I figured it can't hurt to talk about the shit that's bothering us. I'll go first if it makes you feel any better."

We passed the bottle back and forth again and then she made a go ahead motion with her hand at me as she put the bottle to her lips.

"Alright then, like I told you I came here looking for a place to just be alone. You probably saw the end of the tournament. I wanted to escape the accusing eyes of everyone else. They all think I'm some type of loon who murdered Cedric just to win this fucking tournament."

"Yeah I saw it, you suddenly showed up cradling the guy's body ranting that the dark lord is back. What did you expect was going to happen? No one wants to believe that after so many years of relative peace that the dark times are about to return."

There was something in the way she worded it that caught my attention. "You sound like you believe me that Voldemort is back." She didn't flinch when I said his name but I didn't know if that was normal or because of the alcohol.

I took the bottle from her as she began to speak. "Of course I believe you. That's the whole reason I'm here now Potter. The return of that monster has pretty much sealed my fate."

That caught my attention and put me slightly on guard. I made a go on motion with my hand as I set the now quickly emptying bottle down between us.

She took a deep breath and then started. "You see my family isn't a dark family. We're one of the few families that managed to avoid the war last time. We weren't forced to take sides as so many were. However this time around my father fears we will not be so lucky."

I watched as she took another swig from the bottle before continuing. "Lucius Malfoy has been contacting my father for months with hints of a marriage contract between Draco and me. Also included in the letter were not so subtly veiled threats about what would happen if he were to refuse. I've tried to argue with my father; even gone so far as begged and pleaded all to no avail. Thanks to the dark lord returning it's almost guaranteed that I will have my life and purity signed away." Her cheeks tinged a slightly darker red as she said the last part.

"By purity you mean your…." I trailed off and made a gesture towards her lower regions.

She didn't respond just nodded slightly. We sat in awkward silence for a minute until she cleared her throat and I realized I had been staring at her lower half. Quickly my eyes shot up and that movement alone made me dizzy. I braced myself on the arm of the sofa as the room seemed to spin.

A hand reached out and grabbed onto me as I felt myself began to fall towards the floor. It pulled me back onto the couch where I landed on something soft and warm. I looked up only to find myself staring at an amused pair of blue eyes.

"And here I was thinking I got to be the one to use someone as a pillow Potter."

That's when I realized my head had landed in her lap and I was now sprawled out on the sofa. I made no effort to adjust myself or move from my current position though. I felt like any movement might make me sick. My pillow began to run her hands through my hair and I felt myself relax into the touch. As I relaxed the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach began to go away.

A quiet voice drew my attention back as I began to drift asleep to the gentle touch.

"Will you tell me about tonight, I mean the full story? I want to know what happened and I promise I won't judge you no matter what."

Suddenly I no longer felt drunk and I could practically feel my eyes darkening. I didn't want to talk about what had happened in the maze, but she had shared something personal with me. It was only fair that I give her the truth about what had happened.

"Yes I will tell you, but I warn you it isn't a pleasant story." She nodded her head before I continued. "Well when I entered the maze I could tell something was wrong. I don't know how to describe it but something just felt off about the whole thing. Regardless I started to proceed forward into the maze using a point me spell."

I picked up the bottle to take a drink only to find it empty. I set it down disappointed to find my liquid courage had run dry. It seemed like I was going to have to finish this story with nothing but my own will.

"After about fifteen minutes or so in the maze I hadn't come across any obstacles. This had me on high alert as they had told us beforehand that each champion would face many obstacles on their way to the cup. That's when I heard Fleur, the French champion, scream from the lane next to me. Well everyone always said I had a bit of a hero complex and I guess they were right. Without even thinking I cast an incendio at the hedge and burned my way through."

I took a pause to gather my thoughts and remember as clearly as possible what had happened next.

"What I saw was horrible. It was my first time seeing the effects of a Cruciatus curse on a person. Fleur was lying on the ground and I watched as her limbs twisted in odd directions. Her body convulsed and spasmed in the mud. Her normally platinum blonde hair was tinged with red and brown. The red I assumed was blood. Finally I was able to draw my eyes away from her to find the attacker. To my surprise I looked to the left and saw Viktor Krum."

I stopped as the girl gasped and looked like she was going to say something, but I stopped her as I didn't think I would be able to continue if I let her cut in.

"I knew something was very wrong at that point. Durmstrang has a bad reputation because they teach the dark arts, but what many people don't know is that I spent some time talking to Krum this year. He wanted to win this tournament fair and square, so he could prove to people that his talent wasn't only on a broom. I knew he wouldn't have resorted to cheating like that. My thoughts were confirmed when I looked into his eyes. They were clouded and glossed over. It was one of the sure fire ways to tell if someone was under the Imperius. Moody or really impostor Moody taught us about it earlier this year."

"Anyway Krum was too focused on his target to notice that I had come through the hedge so I was able to easily stun and disarm him. I grabbed his wand just in case he had managed to wake up from my stunning spell. I rushed to Fleur to try and help her, but it was no good. She had passed out from the pain of the spell and was barely breathing. I took her wand and fired red sparks into the air. That was what the judges told us to do if we needed help. I figured they would find her and Krum at the same time. What I didn't expect was for the whole maze to suddenly start caving in around me. I started to run as the hedges closed off and tried to trap me in them. I barely made it into the clear as the row I had been in was completely grown over and I could no longer see Fleur or Krum. I contemplated giving up right there and now I wish I had."

I sat up so that I could lean back against the sofa as I stared at the wall and continued to talk about what had happened. "In the end I decided to continue going so that I could possibly warn Cedric that something was wrong. After travelling for another minute or two I came across a sphinx. I was able to successfully answer its riddle and pass without harm. I wandered a little bit further and came across a strange mist that made the world seem as if it was inverted, when in reality I was still walking on the ground. After my initial panic I was able to get past that fairly quickly. I took the chance to use my point me spell at that point and started wandering in the direction of the cup. It was only a few minutes before I ran into Cedric." I stopped as tears came to my eyes. I swiped at them embarrassed that I was crying in front of this girl I didn't even know. As I made to wipe at them again though I felt a hand come up and grab mine. She pulled my hand down to her lap and began rubbing small circles on the back of mine to comfort me. It worked after a minute and I calmed down enough to continue.

"Immediately I told Cedric about what had happened to me. At first he seemed weary about believing the story, but then he agreed that we should stick together. We started walking down the path in front of us and then we saw it. The cup was only about fifteen meters in front of us. We turned and smiled at each other; both glad that it was almost over. Of course it wasn't that easy though. Suddenly a large form shot out of the hedges behind us and crashed into our legs. Cedric landed awkwardly and he wound up twisting his ankle. I got up as quick as possible and tried to identify what had hit us. When I got a look at it my heart dropped though. It was an acromantula. The venom was dripping from its fangs and it looked poised to strike again. I rolled to the side as it sprung at me and tried to hit it with a disarming spell only to have it bounce off the thick hide. Cedric had recovered at this point and managed to get a cutting charm in that clipped one of the legs. Anyway we continued on with that plan of attack until we were finally able to chase the creature off back into the maze. That should have been it right there. There was nothing between us and the cup. With Cedric's ankle busted I could have easily beaten him and taken it for myself."

I looked over at her for the first time since I had started talking. "That's what I should have done. I should have taken it by myself. Cedric would still be alive if I had just been selfish. Instead I told him that we should take the cup together. That way Hogwarts could share the win. He finally agreed and then we grabbed it together. The portkey that was meant to take me away took us both. When we landed we didn't even have time to figure out where we were before we were bound. Cedric tried to stand up and get free and that's when I heard his voice. Kill the spare he said. Those three words are going to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. Kill the spare. Cedric wasn't supposed to be there. It was supposed to be just me. It's my fault he's dead. Everyone is right; I did kill Cedric."

I broke down this time and it took the last of my will power to not flee from the room in embarrassment. However instead of the laughter or ridicule I had come to expect when I showed weakness in front of people the girl wrapped her arms around me and pulled me to her. I'm not quite sure how long we stayed sitting like that, but I found that I didn't mind the closeness. I gained some strength from the fact that she hadn't berated me for crying or anything and decide to finish the story.

"I looked up just in time to see the bright green light collide with Cedric. It was painless and quick which is the only comfort I can take. He immediately ceased moving and fell to the ground. His eyes were open, but dull and unseeing. I was distracted when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. A short figure in a dark cloak came out of the shadows where seconds earlier the fatal beam of light had erupted from. My blood began to boil as I recognized who it was. This may sound unbelievable to you, but it was Peter Pettigrew."

This time I let her ask the inevitable question. "But Pettigrew is dead isn't he? Sirius Black killed him the night he betrayed your parents."

I shook my head. "That is just what Voldemort wanted everyone to think. Pettigrew was the one who betrayed my parents. He blew up the street and escaped in the explosion while cutting off one of his fingers. He framed Sirius for the whole thing and has been in hiding ever since. But that's getting away from the story and onto another topic I don't want to discuss."

By this time I realized I had sobered up almost completely thanks to the extreme emotional outbursts. I continued on anyway though, "So Pettigrew starts to taunt me, and then he lifts up a bundle of robes with the remains of Voldemort's soul or body or whatever you want to call it. Voldemort ordered him to complete the ritual; Pettigrew being the faithful little rat that he is quickly obliged. He needed three things: first he needed a bone from Voldemort's father which was easy to get since we were in the graveyard where he was buried. Next he needed blood from an enemy that was forcibly taken. That was why I was there; I think Voldemort wanted to make an example out of me since he could have used any of the people who stand against him. He wanted to show the world that I wasn't safe even at Hogwarts. So Pettigrew came up to me and sliced my arm open. The last thing was definitely the most sick. It required flesh of the servant to be willingly given. I'm not talking about a finger or anything either. Pettigrew willingly chopped off his own arm from the elbow down. I'm getting chills just thinking about the sound it made as it collided with the boiling water of the cauldron."

"At that point I remember wishing and hoping that Voldemort would drown and that the ritual wouldn't work. For a second I was foolish enough to believe that it had worked, and then a figure began to rise from the cauldron. Pettigrew brought him a robe and his wand. That was when the dark lord had returned. He used the mark on Pettigrew's arm to summon his followers to him. He went around the circle calling all of them out for not seeking him out to offer assistance. Then he approached me. I was still tied to a gravestone and unable to do anything. He reached out and touched my forehead, right where my scar is, and my world exploded into pain. All I wanted to do at that point was to die and join Cedric in sweet release. It wasn't to be though; Voldemort unbound me and gave me my wand. He told me he wanted to duel me so that no one could question his power. He tried to make me bow to him, but I refused. Then he used the Imperius on me, but I was able to throw it off. It was stupid on my part I suppose since that only served to enrage him further. I didn't even have a chance to move when I felt like hot knives were lancing through my skin as it was being stretched out. The Cruciatus is a horrible experience I would never wish upon anyone." I paused to take a breath and decide whether or not to tell her about the event with our wands during the duel. On one hand I hadn't meant to tell nearly this much to a girl I didn't even know; on the other hand though telling her what had happened and how I felt was actually a relief.

It was strange, since I had talked to Ron and Hermione about things that had happened and never felt this way. For the first time in my life it felt like someone truly understood that saying "You'll be fine." Or "Don't worry mate, no one blames you." Would not fix this. This mystery girl was listening to what I had to say, but she didn't offer any advice or try and comfort me. It was forcing me to deal with my own demons and for that I was grateful. I made up my mind then that she needed to know the whole story; that I wanted her to know the whole truth.

"After he lifted the curse he told me that I should have just bowed and it would have been easier. I rose to my feet and then the duel really started. His wand was a blur as spells sliced through the air towards me. All I could do was hide behind gravestones. It was after I dodged a killing curse that I remember I had my father's cloak in my pocket. This is a secret that very few people know, but I possess an invisibility cloak. I hope you won't go telling about that. Anyway so I threw the cloak over me and it bought me enough time to try and think of a plan. However I was out of ideas and then the gravestone I had been behind exploded. I turned and fired off the first spell that came to mind. A stupid fucking disarming charm. Here I was going against one of the most evil and powerful people to ever live and I throw a disarming charm. Well as luck had it I have the brother wand to Voldemort's which resulted in an event that Dumbledore described to me as Prior Incantatum. Basically our spells collided and a golden dome surrounded us. There was a bead on the line that connected our wands and I managed to drive it back into Voldemort's. This caused the memories of the most recent people he had killed to come forth. I saw Cedric, some woman I didn't know, my father, and my mother. Cedric asked me to take my body back to his family. Then my parents told me I needed to summon the portkey and grab Cedric's body to go back. I broke the connection between our wands and they rushed Voldemort as their memory forms faded to give me the time I needed to escape. Then I landed in the middle of the stadium and you know the rest of the story."

I refused to meet her eyes after I finished. Twice I had broken down and cried and now that I was done telling my tale I was sure she was going to mock me. I was surprised again when she leaned her head on my shoulder and looped her arm through mine.

"Well after hearing the day you've had Potter, my problems don't seem all that bad. So I guess that means your company was good for something tonight."

I couldn't believe it. She wasn't judging me in fact all she had done was make a joke about the situation. "I don't understand, how can you be so at ease with what I just told you? How can you not look at me and see someone who got his classmate killed? How can you not see the coward who ran and hid because he couldn't think of any other plan?"

For a moment she was silent as I stared at the top of her head. "It's simple Potter. It was Diggory's decision to take the cup with you. He wanted that victory, he may not have wanted to die granted, but he wanted to be a champion. If you had let him take it then he would have died regardless; we both know you are to selfless to ever take the cup by yourself. So in either situation Diggory dies. You're not a coward for hiding from the most powerful dark lord of our time. Hell that makes you more sensible than any Gryffindor at this school."

I was thinking about what she was telling me and then I decided to throw her off a little bit. "You know I was supposed to be a Slytherin. The hat told me I would do great and wonderful things there, but I had met Malfoy while I was doing my shopping and begged to be put anywhere else."

She snorted at me, "Glad to know you judged our entire house off of one bad egg. Granted there are a good amount of people who believe in the same things that Malfoy does and are just as arrogant, but then there are people like me who just want to achieve great things. Our house is known for ambition, and that sometimes leads us into darker or ulterior ways of accomplishing what we want. Honestly though, I can't see you being a Slytherin. The years with the lions must have really altered your personality."

I was immediately going to jump to defense of my house when I thought about what she had said. Before Hogwarts I was studious, but hid it from the Dursleys. I worked hard at my school work and even during my chores. I was quiet and didn't show a whole lot of emotion, because I learned early on that emotion would only result in more pain for me. Once I joined Gryffindor though, I started to rely on Hermione for my homework. If I did do it on my own it was usually sub-par. I had become lazy in the past few years and more prone to outbursts.

"I can't believe it, but you're right you know. I really have changed from who I used to be. I wish I had noticed it sooner. I'm going to have a lot of work to do to get back to the person I want to be."

I could feel her nodding her head against my shoulder. "Well better late than never right? If I could make a suggestion though, I would either ditch Weasley and Granger or at the very least push them away." She reached up and put a finger on my lips to stop my argument. "Listen before you explode. Have you never wondered how it was so convenient that the first people you meet are die hard Gryffindors who look to Dumbledore for everything? Besides Weasley isn't very intelligent or competent with a wand. His family is about as poor as it comes and have no political connections to use. He offers you no benefits as a friend or acquaintance. Granger will be threatened by you if you were to suddenly start trying to match her in her studies. She would be prone to jealousy if you did better instead of encouragement. Eventually she would stop talking to you altogether anyway. You don't have to heed my advice though; if you don't eventually they'll abandon you just like they did earlier this year; only this time it will be permanently."

I pulled away from her but was careful to make sure she didn't tumble down on top of me as I did so. "You don't know Ron or Hermione! How can you just tell me to abandon them? Not all friends have to offer benefits or something to gain. Some people are just fun to be around. I had thought you were different than the rest of the Slytherins, but here you are spouting the same garbage they do. I don't use my friends for things!"

I looked into her eyes as she shook her head and for a second I thought I could see pity, but then it was replaced by a cool determination. "That's a shame then Potter. I thought I had actually talked some sense into Gryffindor's golden boy. Friendships should all be mutually beneficial. Both people should be able to gain more than a few laughs and friendly rows out of it. You don't have to use them exactly. That brings me to something else though… this is more difficult to approach and I'm not sure where to start so I will ask you to bear with me and not interrupt."

I was still angry at her, but she had listened when I needed it so I agreed if only to repay the favor.

"We both have problems right now. You seem fine for the moment, but I have no doubts that if you were to go lie down and try and sleep you would be immediately haunted again by the visions of what has happened. Is that correct?" I nodded my head slowly still not sure where she was going with this. "I told you about my problem and how I'm most likely going to be married off to Malfoy this summer or at least arranged to be married. However I think I know a way to help both of us."

I felt my mouth go dry as I started to get an idea of where she was going with this. "Go on, I'm still listening." I wanted to hear her say it to confirm what I thought she was implying.

"I think that if I were to lose my purity then Draco would be uninterested. When two pureblooded families sign a marriage contract a test is done on the female to insure she is clean and pure, but if I was to be impure then I would not be desirable. The contract may not even be possible at that point. "

I barely got my next sentence out as my brain fully processed what she had just said. "So you think that if we sleep together I won't have bad dreams, that I'll be distracted from the nightmares. In return you're gaining a possible way out of your marriage to the ferret. Do I understand this correctly?"

She nodded her head shyly a light blush splaying across her cheeks. "That's correct. Believe me Potter if I thought that the benefits of this arrangement weren't worth it then I never would have offered. Sometimes though, like this case, the benefits are well worth it. Besides someday I'll be able to brag about being Harry Potter's first." She winked at me her previous shy demeanor gone and now I could feel my cheeks burning red.

"Fine, I'll do it. But I have one condition first. You have to tell me your name."

She laughed and for the first time it sounded genuine to me. "I'll tell you in the morning, I can't risk having you run out on me now. Is that fair?"

In my head I was thinking anyone would be an idiot to run out on the beautiful girl in front of me when she was offering herself up. However I merely nodded to show that I agreed. "So how do we do this? I don't really have any experience with this type of thing…" I trailed off embarrassed at my lack of experience with females.

Another laugh graced my ears and I was beginning to really enjoy the sound. Now that my emotions weren't in such a mess from the story I could feel the previous buzz from the alcohol starting to come back to me. I didn't receive any words as a response. Instead she leaned forward and wrapped a hand around my neck as she pressed her lips to mine lightly. I wasn't sure what to do, but I decided to wing it and tried to mirror the movements of her lips against mine. I was surprised when I felt her tongue slip out and try and part my lips. Involuntarily they opened just enough for our tongues to meet.

**LEMON**

I was definitely not against making out with the black haired beauty in my arms I decided. I had been wary at first, but it seemed like she was right that sometimes the benefits were just too good to pass up. I took my arm and wrapped it around her lower back as I pushed forward and lowered her into position beneath me. Feeling slightly bold thanks to my returning buzz I slipped my hand underneath the thin fabric of the shirt she was wearing. As I moved it up I hesitated only for a second before cupping one of her breasts through the silky lace bra she was wearing. The moan that escaped her mouth as I squeezed nearly drove me into a lust filled madness.

I tensed for a moment when I suddenly felt my shirt and pants disappear. I opened my eyes in time to see her discarding her wand on the floor next to the sofa. We were both now laying together in nothing but our undergarments. I was thankful I had worn one of the few pairs of boxers that I owned that weren't cast offs from Dudley.

Her warm skin underneath my hands felt amazing and I found myself slowly losing control of my movements. My hands began to wander everywhere exploring every inch of her body. They ended on the clasp of her bra as our lips parted for air. We locked eyes and I asked for silent confirmation to continue which I received.

My fingers fumbled awkwardly with the clasp for a few seconds before I got it and we moved apart to let the bra be pulled away leaving her topless beneath me. She reached up and grabbed the top of my head and pulled me down to her. My lips kissed around her nipple at first, teasing her. Her hands running through my hair felt so good as I began to suck on her tit. This caused her to arch beneath me and my dick brushed against her leg.

As I continued to work on her tits, one of her hands snaked its way down and below the waist band of my boxers. She grasped my cock and began to stroke it slowly up and down. This time it was me who moaned out loud. The feeling of her hand wrapped around me was too great to put into words. I hadn't ever been in a situation like this before and hoping to not mess it up I began to copy her actions. My hand found its way down and inside of her lace underwear. My fingers reached where she was wet and I slowly began to rub in circles. It only took me a second to locate her clit and I start playing with it using the pad of my thumb as I gently began to slip one finger inside of her tight pussy.

It took a little work, but eventually I managed to get my finger in far enough to feel the hymen. Being careful not to break it just yet I slid my finger in and out of her. I could feel her getting wetter with every pump of my finger.

"Harry, put it in me now. No more playing around." It was the first words either of us had spoken since we'd started, and it caused me to jump a little as I forgot what the sound of actual words was like. Trying not to appear too eager I pulled off my boxers and helped her slide her underwear off. Now we're laying completely bare for each other. My eyes never left hers though as I used one hand to help guide my dick inside of her. I nearly stopped as she let out a cry of pain and I see tears start to well in her eyes, but as I pull back her hands wrapped around my back and force me to stop. I lean down and kiss her gently as I slide the rest of the way in and break her hymen. The first minute is awkward as we try and find a rhythm. Finally we get in sync with each other and no longer is there discomfort but only pleasure.

Both of us know it isn't going to last long and after the first five minutes or so I can already feel myself getting ready to explode inside of her. By this time she has her hands on the top of my ass forcing me deeper and deeper inside of her with every thrust. After another minute I can't hold it off any longer and I let go and feel myself cum inside of her. I keep thrusting for another few seconds and wrap my arm around her back as I lay down and we embrace. We shared a few more soft kisses before I pulled out of her.

**END LEMON**

We didn't move very much after we finished. We shifted just enough on the sofa so that we could lay comfortable while we slept. I was spooning her from behind with one arm wrapped protectively over her stomach to prevent her from falling and the other under her head to give it some elevation.

It wasn't long before the two of us drifted off into a sleep and my last thought of the night was that my day had gone from one of the worst of my life to something else entirely.

I had been having a great dream about the activities from the night before when I felt the girl in my arms get up. I kept my eyes closed thinking she was just adjusting herself and would be back in a minute or two. I had no idea what time it was nor did I care so long as I was laying there with her. However I cracked my eyes open the tiniest bit when I heard her footsteps start moving towards the door.

"You're not going to run out without telling me your name are you? That was our deal after all. I wouldn't run out last night and you would tell me your name in the morning."

She froze in place probably not used to being caught in her actions. I felt myself stir a little bit at the mischievous smirk that she was currently giving me. "Maybe you are more Slytherin than I gave you credit for Harry. How long have you been awake?"

I smiled sleepily at her. "I've only been awake since you got up and started moving around. I was waiting hoping you were coming back. However that looks like it isn't going to happen. So now back to the actual matter at hand. What is your name?"

The smirk still firmly in place she said only one word to me as she turned to leave. "Daphne."

I wracked my brain to come up with a last name to match the first but still had nothing. I thought I would ask Hermione at breakfast, but then realized she might ask too many questions. And if she started asking questions then Ron would butt in and freak out over the fact that I had been in the presence of a Slytherin.

I didn't want it to happen, but Daphne's words about my so called friends from the night before fluttered to the front of my mind as I thought about them. Maybe she was right after all and I would be better without them.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts so I could start getting ready for the day. As it was I was still laying completely starkers on the couch and would have to try and locate where Daphne had banished my clothes to.

I searched for a few minutes but finally found them in one of the drawers of the desk in the room. I used my wand to cast a couple of grooming charms I had read about so that I was at least somewhat presentable. I had a dull ache in my head and couldn't wait to get some food in me to help distract me from the throbbing.

It had been about fifteen minutes or so since Daphne had left and I assumed it was safe for me to leave without looking too suspicious. I did a once over to make sure neither of us had forgotten anything. I debated over whether or not to leave the empty bottle of whiskey, but I didn't want someone to find it and be able to use some spell to find out who had been drinking from it. So I cast a quick shrinking charm on it and tucked it back into my robes.

My walk to the great hall wasn't at all eventful, something I was eternally grateful for. When I walked in almost everyone else in the school was there. I noticed the absence of the other delegations immediately. They must have returned to their own schools after what had happened last night. Thinking about the tournament made me feel sick to my stomach, but it didn't reduce me to the crying wreck I had been the night before. It would take a while for me to become completely numb to what had happened, but last night had gone a long way in helping me cope.

I almost turned around and walked out of the hall when all noise and motion stopped. It felt like every pair of eyes was on me, even the professors. I scowled at them and decided to suck it up. It wasn't like I had never been stared or gawked at before. I was sure everyone thought I was a murderer or some type of loon now anyway. Hopefully that would keep them from approaching me too much. I took a seat at the end of Gryffindor table, closer to the doors in case I needed to make a hasty getaway.

Once I sat down and started piling food onto my plate the noise and conversations in the hall began again. Only this time I could hear that I was the new topic of discussion. It was only a few minutes later that Ron and Hermione had decided to get up from their seats at the other end of the table and join me. I said nothing to them when they sat down.

It had been them all year long who had caused a rift between us and just because I had accepted their apologies for being gits at the beginning of the year didn't mean that I was ready to return to the friendship we had once had. The traitorous part of my mind that wanted to take Daphne's advice and dump them seemed to roar to life at the thought of ending all ties of friendship with the two. I squashed it down and waited patiently to see which one of the two would be the first to break the uncomfortable silence that had settled between us.

It was amusing to see them exchange glances with each other as if they were having some silent conversation. They were the only two who couldn't see they were obviously smitten with each other. Once again I felt my mind trying to persuade me. I began to wonder what would happen to me when they eventually did get together. I had the suspicion that Ron was hoping I would wind up with Ginny, but I had no interest in dating the girl. I don't count myself as shallow, but she was only of average looks and magical talent. She could barely hold a conversation with me and it all seemed to be more hero worship than anything.

A clearing of someone's throat snapped me back to reality and away from my thoughts. I looked up to see it was going to be Ron to try and make conversation first.

"Morning mate, where'd you run off to last night? We were in a right state after you just up and disappeared. We were afraid someone might have gone and snatched you up."

_So he was going to try and make me feel guilty for wanting some time alone? Fat chance of that happening. This is my life and I don't need to tell someone where I'm going._

"I went to clear my head Ron; there was no way I was going to sleep after what had happened. I found a quiet place to blow off some steam. Sorry you all were worried, but I don't need to tell anyone where I'm going. I can handle myself." I spoke with a little bit of extra heat and venom in my voice to let him know exactly how I was feeling.

Ron's ears turned red and his face scrunched up like he was going to yell at me, but Hermione beat him to it.

"Harry! Why are you speaking to Ron like he did something wrong? You're the one who went and ran off after curfew without telling anyone. You're just lucky that Dumbledore didn't want to do anything to upset you more after what happened."

The little restraint I had on my anger was gone after she ended her sentence. "Did you just say you went to Dumbledore? Can I trust you two with anything anymore? Did it ever cross your minds that maybe I just needed a little space? I watched the most powerful dark lord in the past merlin knows how many years be reborn! Not only did I watch that, but I saw a fellow champion and friend die right in front of me! So sorry if the last thing on my mind was telling someone where I was going, because honestly I didn't even know!"

I was out of my seat and leaning across the table only a few inches from their faces as I finished my rant. Hermione was never one to back down though and she stood up and looked about ready to stab me with the fork in her hands.

"Of course we told Dumbledore! You need to be protected Harry and we were just trying to make sure you were safe! If you can't appreciate that then we don't need to talk until you feel appreciative of our efforts. Come on Ron! Let's go back to the other side of the table."

I watched as the two got up and moved away from me. I was torn between wanting to call out to them and apologize for acting like a prat; but the other part of me knew that I was justified in my anger. She even had the nerve to say I needed to be protected.

_Does she really think I can't protect myself?_

The thought flitted through the front of my mind and unbidden the answer came.

_Yes._

That was what everyone thought. They thought I was helpless and couldn't take care of myself. No one believed I had the ability to do anything. I stabbed violently into my pile of eggs. I looked up and across the hall daring anyone to meet my eyes. I searched the Slytherin table looking for the only person I wanted to see at the moment. Unfortunately she was nowhere to be found. There wasn't anyone that even remotely resembled the girl from the night before at the table. The rational part of me knew that she had probably just skipped breakfast and was resting or packing for the train ride home today. However I also wondered if in my drunk and emotional state I had imagined everything that had happened.

Could my mind actually produce such a real illusion though? The feeling of her lips on mine and the warmness I felt as she held me when I broke down. No, Daphne definitely existed and I was going to find her on the train and thank her for what she had done.

I left the great hall after another five minutes of picking at my food. The argument from earlier had pretty much killed my appetite. I walked up the stairs towards the Gryffindor dorms so that I could finish packing the few belongings I owned.

When I reached the portrait I wasn't surprised to find Neville standing outside of it looking his usual nervous self. He had probably forgotten the password again and was now worried he would miss the train. He brightened up when he saw me coming though.

"Harry! I'm so glad you're here. Do you remember the password? I seem to have forgotten it again." He blushed as he admitted what I already knew.

I rolled my eyes and cuffed him on the back of the head. "Someday you'll learn to memorize the password Neville. Godric's Lions!" As I stated the password the portrait swung open and I gestured for Neville to go first so that he wouldn't get locked out. We walked up to our dorms in a silence, but it wasn't uneasy like the one I had experienced earlier with Ron and Hermione.

Remembering my promise to myself to try and make more friends I decided some small talk to get to know Neville better couldn't hurt.

"So Neville, I know we've been roommates for years, but I don't really know all that much about you. What do you normally do during the summer?"

Neville was caught off guard as I addressed him and looked at me in shock. "I, uh, well during most summers I work in my family greenhouses. I really love Herbology and it's really the only subject I feel confident in. This summer though my time there will be cut short because I will have to start attending classes on how to handle one's self in the Wizengamot."

That caught my interest as I had no idea Neville was interested in the politics of the Wizarding world.

"That's cool, I didn't take you to be the politics type Neville, when did you become interested in it?"

Neville looked at me like I had grown two heads and I instantly knew I had said something wrong. "Harry it's not something I'm interested in, but rather it is an obligation. You'll have to attend some of the classes to actually now that I come to think of it. We're both from Ancient and Noble houses so we're expected to know how to act appropriately and make political allies. Since we're the heirs of our family once we are legally of age we will be expected to take up our seats and participate in votes for new bills and movements. You didn't know about this?"

I shook my head no and felt stupid at not ever questioning whether or not I had responsibilities. I knew my father had been a pureblood so it only made sense that somewhere along the line I would have had to do something. "I had no idea Neville. Who would I talk to about getting to these classes? Normally I stay at my muggle relatives during the summer and they hate all things magical."

Neville seemed to think on his answer before responding. "Well normally it would be your parents or guardian. For me, my Grandmother went ahead and set it up so that I would be going two or three times a week to some classroom at the ministry, but I think you can also do private tutoring at home if it's more convenient. Judging by what you said about your relatives though, I would definitely suggest the classroom. Just tell them that it will get you out of the house for a good part of the summer and I bet they would go for it."

I looked at Neville in a new light as he offered me a way of escape from the Dursleys. This was the most confident I think I had ever seen him in four years. Perhaps if people were to just give the boy a chance instead of always putting him down he would be more comfortable in his studies.

Well I was never going to underestimate him again that was for sure. I almost missed out on a great opportunity to learn more about the world I was now a part of and possibly make a good friend in the process.

"Do you think your Grandmother could get me into the same classes as you? You're right that my relatives would jump at the chance to get rid of me or a while. It would help me out if I had someone in the class that I knew. That way we could also help each other study and stuff in case there are tests."

Neville smiled at me. "I'd like that Harry. Maybe we could even work on our summer homework at some point. I am pretty rubbish with most subjects, but I could definitely help you with Herbology and History. I'll talk to my Grandmother about it today once we get home and owl you a response sometime within the week. Did you know our parents were actually pretty good friends?"

I had no idea that mine and Neville's parents had been friends to be honest. "No I didn't know that at all. Pretty much the only things I know about my parents are they I have my mother's eyes, my dad's hair, and they were friends with Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin."

I watched as Neville shook his head sadly and I began to wonder just how much the boy knew about my family. "Well that won't do at all. I'll send you a copy of the family histories from the library at my Gran's manor when I send her reply. It is a self-updating book that tracks major accomplishments of pureblood families and updates the lineages. Whenever someone is born or dies the book will take note of it. It's how pureblood families keep track of potential marriage contracts and allies. I'm sure you would be able to find some information about your parents and grandparents. I know your mother had her charms mastery so that is for sure going to be in there."

I finished packing as Neville told me about this book and I couldn't help but be excited to finally learn about my family. I didn't think there was any way I'd be able to learn about them but now it was only a week away or so. Perhaps I could even ask Sirius some questions the next time I saw him. I thanked Neville profusely and told him I was done packing and going to start heading to the platform. I mentioned I would save him a seat in my compartment if he wanted to join me, but he politely declined saying he had already agreed to sit with Luna Lovegood from Ravenclaw.

I kept my eyes open the whole time on my walk to the train for any signs of Daphne, but it was still early and my search proved to be fruitless. I opened Hedwig's cage and told her to fly to Sirius so that she wouldn't have to deal with the Dursleys. I figured if I had to send a reply to Neville or anyone else I could just use the owl that the message came with. I got my trunk settled into a compartment in the back of the train and then began to set up some basic privacy charms on the door. I didn't want to be disturbed on my ride back.

I leaned against the window and watched as students began to mill down from the castle. I was searching the groups desperately looking for any sign that Daphne hadn't been from my imagination, but I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew the train was moving. Deciding to get up and look one last time I began to walk from the back of the train to the front. I cast glances into each and every compartment I pass. I'm beginning to feel depressed and resigned to not finding her when I catch sight of the girl stretched out on a bench in the compartment to my left. Sitting across from her is a blonde haired girl and a brown haired boy. All three are Slytherins and I now have the vague memories of seeing them together at classes.

I'm suddenly very nervous as I slide the door to their compartment open. No one says anything as I step in, but I receive a raised eyebrow from the blonde and a half scowl from the only other male in the room.

"Umm hi, sorry to disturb you but I needed to talk to Daphne. Do you think she would mind if I woke her up?" I wasn't dumb. Some girls were down right vicious if you woke them up from their beauty sleep.

It was the blonde girl who responded to me. "Go for it Potter. She was pretty well rested this morning, and now she's just sleeping to pass time. Daphne isn't the social type though so I can't imagine what you could possibly have to talk to her about. Perhaps some scandalous secret love affair?" I was unnerved by how close the girl's teasing came to the actual truth, but did a good job at hiding it.

Gagging noises from the brown haired guy next to her drew our attention. "Please Tracey I'm still digesting my breakfast and I don't need thoughts of Potter defiling our precious Slytherin Ice Queen."

The girl smiled mischievously at him before turning back to me. "Don't mind Blaise here. Like I said go ahead Potter."

I was grateful that they didn't mind me talking to her, but was also slightly curious as to their reactions. I had expected them to be angry at me or resentful. However they seemed to be indifferent to my existence and it was actually a nice change from the normal. I made my way over to Daphne and knelt down so that I wasn't hovering over her. I gently shook her shoulder to wake her up. Hey eyes fluttered open and turned so that our faces were only inches apart and I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I got lost in her stare. Too quickly the moment was over though as Daphne sat up slowly and looked at me. Now that I was actually in front of her and I had confirmed she was real, I didn't know what to do or say. I hadn't really had a plan other than to thank her, but I couldn't do that with her friends here as I didn't know how much they knew.

"Sorry to wake you Daphne, but I was wondering if we could talk for a few minutes."

I wasn't prepared for the next reaction I received. Instead of the warm responses I had received the night before I was now on the end of a cold stare devoid of emotion.

"Potter why the hell would I want to talk to Gryffindor's golden boy? And who gave you permission to use my first name? You may refer to me as Miss Greengrass."

I didn't know how to react or what to say so I did the only logical thing that came to mind. I turned and left the compartment. I didn't run or flee, I simply just left. I walked back to my compartment where I once again applied a locking charm and some other minor privacy charms before laying down and closing my eyes. I hoped to escape the hurt that had built up in my chest at her reaction to seeing me in my dreams. Unfortunately all I did was change one misery for another as the second I fell asleep I found myself once again in the graveyard. I was under the Cruciatus, but this time it wasn't stopping. I could feel the tears leaking from my eyes and I couldn't stop the screams that eventually ripped free from my throat.

I woke up in a panic as I felt two arms slide around me and pull me up. I went for my wand only to have my arms held down to my side.

"Harry calm down! It's just me, it's Daphne. You're fine and in the train compartment on the express."

Her words brought me back and I started to take in my surroundings. I pulled my hand free to wipe at the tears that had leaked out of my eyes. I couldn't believe she kept finding me in these horrible times. It really wasn't a mystery to me anymore why Daphne wanted nothing to do with me, every time she saw me I was reduced to a mess of tears.

"Why are you here Miss Greengrass? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me?"

A sharp stinging in my cheek caused me to turn and face her as I watched her drop her hand back to her side. I reached up and touched the place where she had smacked me. "Don't be fucking stupid Harry. I couldn't very well just greet you like we were best friends or something. For one that would make Tracey and Blaise very suspicious, hell they already are thanks to you wandering in looking for me. But they aren't the main concern. If Malfoy had come by and seen us talking then once he finds out that I'm no longer pure his simple mind would have jumped to conclusions. Even if he is correct this time there is no reason to even let him think that I was with someone outside of Slytherin and make myself and my family even bigger targets."

I hadn't thought about any of that. I had been selfish and only thought of my needs. I forgot how much danger I could have put Daphne in by associating with her. I was a danger to anyone now that Voldemort was back.

"I'm sorry. I was selfish. It won't happen again."

Daphne nodded her head in agreement which caused my heart to sting at the loss of a potential friend. "You're right that it won't happen again. Let's get something clear here Potter. Last night was a onetime thing and not something that will ever be repeated. We did it out of necessity, not because we have feelings for each other. Like I told you, sometimes the benefits outweigh anything else. Do you understand?"

I knew Daphne was right. I didn't have any feelings for her, and I wouldn't be able to have any for anyone else either. It would be way too dangerous for them with Voldemort after me. I nodded and dropped my head to stare at my hands. I barely took notice of her slipping out of the seat and leaving my compartment as I was so lost in my own thoughts. I laid back down again hoping to get some sleep even with the nightmares returning. If I couldn't find some way to keep them down it was going to be one long, lonely, and sleepless summer.


	2. Strange Occurrences

I let out a groan as I tried to stretch out the kink in my back. My first night back at the Dursleys had been unpleasant just as I had come to expect. I was once again living in the small spare room that Dudley had at one point used for his broken and unwanted toys. The mattress I slept on was pretty much a sheet of cloth and springs now after so many years of use. Vernon hadn't been up to take my trunk yet and I was hoping he had forgotten about that. I was already thinking of ways to approach the subject of my attending classes during the summer and the best I had come up with was to do my chores fast and efficiently today and then when I fed them dinner to ask them directly.

I gathered up my towel, some clothes, and the rest of my hygiene gear and as quietly as possible made my way to the bathroom. I had gotten up earlier than normal so that I would be able to shower and get ready for the day before I prepared breakfast for my "family". If there was one thing I had learned throughout my years in servitude to my relatives it was that I never wanted to lack in hygiene skills as the clearly did. Out of the three of them Petunia was the only one I ever saw shower regularly. It was disgusting and I didn't know how people could let themselves be like that and think it okay.

Sure the neighbors probably thought of them as an outstanding family. They always had the nicest lawn on Privet Drive and a fresh coat of paint on everything. Even the garden was maintained to perfection. That was all my doing though; they never lifted a finger to do anything. I suddenly became aware that I was crushing the bar of soap clutched in my hand out of my frustration with my situation. I calmed myself down by telling myself that this summer was going to be different. I had a way out of this hell hole and I was only a few weeks from it. I could survive a few weeks if it meant less time with them.

I shut the bathroom door behind me without making so much as a peep and then stepped lightly towards the shower stall. I twisted the knobs and let the water begin to run so that it would be warm by the time I finished brushing my teeth. I looked at my mess of hair and thought about trying to comb it. I had only attempted to once before, and it had proved to be a useless attempt. After a moment of deliberation I decided to forego the combing. I would settle for smoothing it down in the shower. I made sure to clean all my teeth adequately, but I did so quickly as I knew not to take any longer than necessary in the bathroom. Uncle Vernon would probably accuse me of trying to make him pay a higher water bill or something. Then I would end up with a few bruises or possibly worse and I was not looking forward to explaining that to Neville.

I managed to wash and scrub myself in seven minutes or so and just as I turned the water off I heard footsteps approach the door.

"Hey scarhead get out of the bathroom. I have to use it."

I marveled at how creative Dudley was with his insults. It took one of true intellectual genius to make fun of me based on the scar on my forehead. Even Draco had better insults than that most of the time. It wasn't worth a beating or losing my meals for the day though so I gathered up my stuff and wrapped the towel around my waist. As I walked by the mirror I took a look at myself and it seemed like the first time I was really seeing myself in a long time. I was pale, not only was I pale, but I was thin enough that most of my ribs were at least somewhat visible. There were heavy bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep I had gotten thanks to the return of the graveyard nightmares. Altogether I imagined that I looked like one who was close to death. It was something that I was going to try my hardest to correct. There had to be ways for me to get more food without the Dursleys knowing. It looked like I was going to need to take a trip into Diagon Alley and find out if there was anything that could help me. I didn't know when that would be possible, but I suspected that I could use the Knight Bus at some point the next few days if I was careful to walk far enough away from the house and did it at night.

I pulled my eyes away from my reflection and opened the door. I paid no mind to Dudley as I passed him; even though he was giving me a look that clearly said he wished I would keel over and die.

It only took me another five minutes to slip back into my room and put on the rags that my relatives called clothes. I made my way downstairs and started looking through the fridge for the ingredients for breakfast. It was one of the easiest meals to make since the Dursleys always ate the same thing every morning. Personally I didn't even mind the cooking part of my chores. I just wished I was allowed to experiment a little more with what I made, and I guess being allowed to eat what I made for once would be nice also. I started the stove and put the pan on as I dropped a slice of butter in it to grease the bottom.

My movements were pretty much automated as I went through the motions of making the eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, slicing fruit, and pouring juice. By the time I heard the first set of footsteps coming down the stairs I had laid out a continental type breakfast. I was just setting the last of the spreads for the toast on the table when Petunia entered the kitchen.

She looked at the table, and then looked up at me. Her eyes flittered towards the sink for a moment where I had put the dishes I had used to make the breakfast and a sneer spread across her face.

"What are you doing just standing there boy? Hurry up and clean those dishes. Once you're done with that you may take two slices of toast and then go start work on the lawn. If you're going to be staying here you will earn your keep just like the rest of us!"

I held back a snort as I tried to imagine how Dudley possibly earned his keep. The walrus that passed as a human did nothing at all. The only exercise the boy ever seemed to get was his boxing classes, which he had stopped attending years ago. His mother and father still thought he went, but I had overheard him talking to Piers once about how he just told them he went so he had an excuse to go and smoke pot with his friends. Personally I thought it was hilarious that they were still paying for his lessons and in reality just wasting the money.

I finished up with the dishes and set them in the drying rack so that I could come back later and put them away. I grabbed my slices of toast just as Dudley and Vernon walked into the kitchen. I mumbled a quiet good morning to them as I walked by and headed for the front door so I could get started on my other chores. One of Vernon's hands reached out and grabbed my arm, rougher than necessary, and I came to a halt.

"Where do you think you're going boy?"

In my mind I imagined a scenario where I could use magic and I threw Uncle Vernon across the room and into the wall. However that wasn't possible. It wasn't possible yet at least.

"I'm going to work on the front lawn like Aunt Petunia told me to Uncle Vernon. Then I was going to wash your car." I hadn't actually planned on washing the car to begin with, but it couldn't help to do a little bit of extra work since I was going to be asking for something tonight.

Uncle Vernon seemed to try and find fault in what I was doing, but when he couldn't come up with anything he let go of me and grunted. "Just make sure you bring the mail in when it gets here boy. I'm waiting on an important letter. Now get out of my sight."

I nodded once and then turned and left the room. Once I was outside I headed towards the garage so that I could grab the lawn mower. It was one of those real old fashioned lawn mowers. The kind where the blades were in a circle and you pushed it to move them. I didn't mind too much because the lawn wasn't very big, but sometimes it would get rusty and become a lot harder to work with. Thankfully this was not one of those days it seemed as I gave it a quick few test pushes and found that it rotated very easily.

The sun was just coming up so it wasn't hot out yet, but I knew that by midday the heat would be in full force. Normally I would have tried to have all of my outside tasks done before that, but since I was trying to gain some color to my skin I decided that I might take my time on the washing of Uncle Vernon's car so I could get a little bit of sun. I knew that too much and I would burn up since my skin wouldn't be used to it.

I carried the mower to the front of the lawn and began my task. I made sure to always cut in nice straight, even lines so that there was nothing to complain about. Altogether the front lawn required me to go back and forth about fifteen times and the back took about twenty five or so. Since I was extra careful with how I cut the process took me about three hours to complete. I had worked up a light sweat, but not enough to stain my clothes at all which I was thankful for since I wouldn't be allowed to wash my laundry for at least five more days.

Once I had finished cutting the back yard I carried the mower back to the garage and set it into its normal resting spot. I needed Uncle Vernon to move his car out of the garage so it could be washed, but I figured I would wait until the mail had arrived so that I didn't make any more trips than necessary into the house. No doubt they would accuse me of trying to make their house dirty or something.

To keep myself busy I picked up a broom and began to sweep the garage out. The post arrived about forty minutes after I had started and I quickly finished sweeping up the small pile of dirt that I had been pushing around for the last ten minutes. I dumped it into the trash bin and set the broom back in its place before rushing out to the mail box.

I gathered it up and began to walk back to the house. I made sure to wipe my feet on the mat as I entered and called out for Vernon.

"In the living room boy, hurry up and bring that post here or you won't be getting any dinner tonight!"

The thought of no food bothered me more than I would admit to anyone and I sped up a little being careful not to bump into anything or anyone. I deposited the mail on the table next to him and then waited for him to sort through it.

"What are you still doing here boy?"

"I need you to move your car outside so I can wash it uncle. I didn't want to wash it inside the garage and risk getting anything else wet."

All I received in response was a grunt and then I walked out once I saw him trying to get out of his chair. I had managed to pull out the entirety of the car washing supplies by the time Vernon had gotten his fat arse into the garage. He pulled the car out and without saying a word to me went back inside.

When I washed the car I did it in sections so that the water wouldn't dry and leave spots thus creating more work for myself. I carefully wet the roof of the car and then began to scrub it. I would work from top to bottom so that I wasn't just washing dirt off onto areas I had already washed.

It only took me about an hour and a half to wash the car. I toweled it off with an old rag I had found in the garage and was now debating on whether or not to wax it. I decided it couldn't hurt and dabbed a corner of the rag that was still dry into the tin of wax on the shelf. After another thirty minutes had gone by I had put a thin coat of wax on the car and it looked better than the day it was bought in my opinion. However my opinion counted for very little in the muggle world.

I cleaned up the mess I had made and returned everything where it belonged before once again getting Vernon to move his car. The man had the nerve to complain about me getting him every time I needed his car moved. Honestly if he would just let me move it back and forth he wouldn't have to even think about moving. Even an idiot could back a car up ten feet; that was a true fact because I had seen Dudley do it last summer.

I didn't have to prepare a lunch of any type because the Dursleys had gone ahead and ordered food. I excused myself from the kitchen and was told to be back down to prepare dinner. I made my way up the stairs towards my room. Once inside I closed and locked the door so I wouldn't be disturbed. Despite it being the middle of the day and the sun being out it was almost pitch black in my room.

The curtains were dark enough to block out any light that managed to get past the bars on my window. The single light bulb in my room had stopped working apparently and I knew that it wouldn't ever be replaced unless I found a way to do it myself.

I was content with being in the dark though and I pulled the pillow and blanket off my bed and leaned back against the wall. I didn't mean to fall asleep but I dozed off and soon found myself strapped to the gravestone again. I could feel my scar begin to burn as the form of Voldemort got closer and closer to me. I woke up just as he reached out with his finger to touch my scar.

I reached up and touched my forehead only to find it covered in blood. I panicked for a moment since that had never happened before. Sure I had the nightmares, but they had never caused my scar to actually bleed. I scrounged around the room for a minute until I found a piece of cloth that I could use to clean up the blood. It seemed to be done bleeding, but I still made a note to tell Sirius about what had happened. Hopefully he would be writing to me in a few days and I would be able to talk to him about all my plans for the summer.

I had no way of telling what time it was, but judging from how dark my room was now compared to when I came in I assumed that the sun was setting and I would need to start dinner for the Dursleys soon. I discarded the bloody cloth in my waste basket and then unlocked my door so I could head downstairs. I heard the television and whatever show was on as I started to head towards the kitchen so I assumed that at least Dudley wouldn't be bothering me for a while.

Just like with breakfast I set to work preparing the food making sure to make no excess mess or waste any food. It took me about forty five minutes to lay out a full spread. I had found some fish fillets in the freezer and fried them up as well as some chips. I had also made some mixed vegetables even though I knew they would go almost completely untouched, but if I hadn't put them out someone would have complained. I set out a dish with some lemon wedges and a dish of tartar sauce and then called out that dinner was ready.

I marveled at how three people walking into a kitchen sounded so close to a herd of stampeding cattle. If I was being honest it even felt like the house was shaking slightly. I stood silently off to the side of the table while my relatives took their usual places and began to help themselves to the food. I waited until I was sure everyone was satisfied with what I had made before cleared my throat ever so slightly to draw the attention to myself. I could see the color rising in Vernon's face at being delayed from his meal so I didn't wait for him to ask what I wanted.

"Uncle Vernon, I have a deal for you that will have me out of the house for a couple of days each week during the latter part of the summer if you're willing to listen."

The color faded from his cheeks and I could see that I had piqued his interest slightly.

"Well what is it boy, I haven't got all night to waste on you and I don't want my food getting cold."

I took a second to gather my thoughts and then began to speak. "There are classes this summer that I am supposed to attend in my world. However I need a guardian to approve them for me. Normally I know you would do no such thing, but this would have me out of the house for at least three days a week if not more. Also I would make sure to prepare breakfast before I left each day and I would still cut the lawn at least twice a week if you desired."

It was amusing to watch him try and find some trick or trap in my deal. After two or three minutes he nodded, more to himself than me, and then looked up at me. "Alright boy, you get me the paperwork and I'll sign it. But you'll still be doing your chores and if you start to sack off in them then I'll make sure you can't leave this house, understand?" He cracked his knuckles in a threatening manner at the end and I couldn't help the slight chill that went down my spine at the thought of another beating.

"Thank you very much Uncle Vernon. My friend Neville will be sending the papers over sometime later this week." I started to walk out of the room with a little spring in my step when Vernon called out to me.

"Wait boy! Neville? Is that one of the red headed freaks that helped you escape and damaged our house?!" I could see that once again he was coloring red and probably about to explode. I quickly reassured him that it wasn't the same person.

"No Uncle, that was Ron Weasley. He and I aren't talking right now. We had a row at school and I don't see us fixing it any time soon." The admission made my heart ache a bit at the loss of my first real friend.

If anything this seemed to make Vernon's day though. "Really? So the boy saw you for the no good freak that you really are? Or did he just realize that you're a trouble maker and dangerous to be around?"

I didn't want to answer him, but I knew that something unpleasant would happen if I just walked away. "The latter option Uncle. I'm going to go to my room now, enjoy your dinner."

The laughter I could hear coming from the dining room hurt more than I cared to admit. It just seemed to follow me up the stairs until I finally reached my door and shut it behind myself.

I picked up my blanket and pillow from the floor where I had left them earlier and tossed them onto my bed. I could barely make out the shapes of objects in the darkness of my room. As I sat on the edge of my bed my stomach let out a rumble and it was then that I remember to grab the small portion of food I was allowed to take for dinner. My pride wouldn't allow me to go back downstairs and beg them to let me take my food. I resigned myself to starving until the next morning when I made breakfast. I pushed open my curtains to try and get a little bit of light in my room and was thankful that the moon was mostly full tonight.

I immediately thought of Professor Lupin and the pain he was going to be in in a few days. I didn't know if he was staying with Sirius or if he lived somewhere else, but I hoped that wherever he was that he was able to get the wolfsbane potion. I wasn't really tired yet so I figured I could stay up and let my thoughts wander. I had so many things I wanted to do, but no real plan of action or order in which to do them. I would make a list, but I didn't want to risk losing it or having any of my relatives seeing it. If they knew I was planning on bringing more of those "freak" things into their house they would probably kill me.

I tried to think about what I needed to do, but it only lasted maybe fifteen minutes before I found my thoughts wandering to Daphne. It wasn't the normal type of thoughts a guy would be having about a beautiful girl though. I didn't fancy her in any romantic sense. At most I could describe my feelings for her as ones of acquaintances. She was someone that listened to me without judging or interjecting.

_You can't go near her though. The traitorous voice in my mind taunted me._

I wanted to argue with it, but I knew that it would be useless.

_That's right. Even you know that it's dangerous to be associated with you. Everyone around you eventually winds up getting hurt. Why do you think Ron and Hermione ditched you? Neville is new to this, but after a while he will tire of the bull shit that comes with being your friend also._

Part of me wanted to just break down and cry as it became clear that I was going to lead a lonely life. However something else stopped me. A new feeling in the back of my mind that I hadn't been aware of before, but at the same time I knew it had always been there. It was a stronger feeling, something I couldn't quite place. It wasn't the sorrow or depression I normally felt. It was closer to anger or rage, but at the same time it was a controlled emotion instead of wild and rampant.

I mentally grasped at it desperate for anything that would take me away from the sorrow even if it was just for a few moments. It was once I had started to immerse myself in it that I became aware of what the emotion was, hate. I wasn't talking about some petty dislike of a person either. I felt and saw images of myself doing terrible things to people I knew that deep down I hated. I had an image of myself torturing the Dursleys. I forced them to watch as I toyed with Dudley. Then it flashed to Ron and Hermione. I was firing spells at Ron as he tried to attack me in the halls and screamed at me.

"_You were a worthless friend! Some hero you turned out to be! Every time you tried to help someone they either wound up hurt or dead, just like Cedric! You murdered him!"_

The image began to shift and I instantly knew what it was going to turn into. I had just landed in the graveyard and then I heard the words.

"Kill the spare."

I pushed myself up off the ground and dove desperately in front of Cedric to try and save him. I fell short though and the spell hit its mark and once again I watched as Cedric died in front of me. Someone stepped on my outstretched hands and I looked up into a pair of glowering red eyes.

"Anyone you get close to Potter I will kill. Just like I did to Cedric. No one around you is safe." Voldemort pointed his wand at me and then my world was engulfed in green.

I shot up in my bed with a cold sweat dripping off my forehead. I was gasping for air as I tried to stop my racing heart. It was still dark outside so I couldn't have been asleep for that long, but now that I had woken up from the nightmare I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep.

I needed something to distract myself from the images I had seen so I decided to do some exercises. I knew that without eating properly they really wouldn't make much of a difference, but at least I could feel like I was being somewhat productive. I got down on the floor and started to do some push-ups. I had been in somewhat decent shape thanks to Quidditch conditioning, but since I had missed the whole season because of the tournament I was now pathetically weak. I only managed about thirty push-ups before my arms felt sore. I rolled over and did some sit ups in hopes of making up for my sad attempt at push-ups only to receive slightly better results.

I knew Dudley had left some weights in here when I had been given the room, but I doubted I would be able to lift them in my current state. It looked like I was going to have to add some sort of conditioning to my schedule this summer. Even if it was something slight just to make sure I kept in shape. Over all I estimated that the exercises had taken up like five minutes and I was once again left with nothing to do.

I looked out my window again and I spotted something that looked like a giant bat in the distance. As it got closer I noticed it was clutching something in its talons. My first thought was that it was holding food, but then it kept coming towards my window and I realized it was an owl and not a bat. My heart soared at the thought that the letter could be from Neville.

Once the owl landed on the outside of my window I reached through the bars and untied the parchment from its leg. I asked the bird to wait not sure if it would understand, but as I walked away it didn't move so I assumed my message had gotten through. I didn't move to far from the window as it was my only source of light. I unrolled the parchment and anxiously began to read.

_Harry,_

_Hey mate I'm sorry this letter is coming so late, but I remember you saying that your relatives don't like magic. I figured it would be best if I sent the owl at night then so it wouldn't disturb them. Anyway I asked my Gran about getting us in the same class and she was practically over the moon. Seriously I haven't seen her this happy since they realized I wasn't a squib. She floo'd the ministry immediately and sorted everything out. All you have to do is have your relatives sign the form attached to the bottom of this letter and you will be golden. I instructed Gran's owl to wait until you had a response before returning. I didn't know if you would have access to Hedwig so I just wanted to make sure you could reply. Alright hoping to hear from you soon!_

_Your friend_

_Neville Longbottom_

_The Future Lord Longbottom_

I let out a snort at the last signature line, but then realized it might be something I would have to put at the bottom of my letters now to. I had missed it at first, but the letter had also been sealed with what I could only assume was Neville's house crest. It seemed I was going to have a lot to learn at these classes. I carefully detached the short permission slip type form at the bottom of the page. I drafted a thank you reply to Neville and his Gran and signed it the same way he had in hopes that I was doing the right thing. I didn't have a family seal that I could seal it with so instead I made do with a piece of tape.

All I had left to do now was wait until breakfast so that I could have Vernon sign the form and then I could send it off. I jumped when I felt a weight on my shoulder. I turned to find myself face to face with the owl that had delivered my letter. Somehow it had made its way through the bars on the window.

"Well you can use Hedwig's cage for the rest of the night if you'd like. I'll have a response for you in the morning but I imagine you would like to rest up. You had a long journey here I'm sure."

I received a hoot in what sounded like appreciation and then the bird took off towards the cage I had set up in the corner. It only took a moment or two for it to fall asleep once it was seated on the perch. I felt myself get jealous of how easily sleep came to the bird and wished I could have the same.

I tucked my response and the permission form away and then laid my head back down on my pillow. I stared off at the wall until I eventually fell into a fit-filled sleep where I was once again forced to relive Cedric's death.

When I woke up I felt like I had only slept a few minutes out of the entire night even though it had been at least six hours. I quickly went through my morning routine and even added in some more push-ups and sit ups before I showered.

Like every morning I had the breakfast ready and set out by the time Petunia had made it downstairs. She said nothing to me this time as I was already working on cleaning the dishes. Uncle Vernon was the next one to come down and then Dudley followed a few minutes later. Just like at dinner I waited until I was sure there were no complaints with the meal before I pulled out the form I needed to be signed.

"Uncle Vernon I have that form I needed you to sign." I approached him hesitantly well aware that he could just rip up the form and laugh in my face. I set it on the table next to him and watched warily as he picked it up and began to read it over.

He didn't rip it up but instead he let out a loud laugh. "This says these are classes on etiquette and proper manners boy! So even the other freaks think you need to be trained better do they? Well who am I to stop them from trying to fix you. I hope they use all sorts of torture methods on you. Here you go!" He pulled a pen out and quickly scribbled his signature on the line at the bottom and I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"Thank you Uncle Vernon. I'll just take my toast and go to my room now. Is there anything you needed done today?"

"Nothing today boy, but tomorrow you'll need to trim some of the hedges around the property. They're becoming out of control." I nodded my head and then made my retreat.

When I got to my room and was safe behind the locked door I reached into my pocket and pulled out two extra pieces of toast and some bacon slices I had wrapped in a napkin. I broke some small pieces off and fed them to the owl which had woken up at the sound of my door closing. I attached the form and letter to its leg and sent it on its way anxious to have the form away from Vernon before he could change his mind. I put the remaining slices of bacon on by bread and made two miserable looking sandwiches, but it was more than I had ever gotten to eat at the Dursleys in the past.

With nothing to do for the rest of the day I decided that it would be in my best interest to get out of the house so that Dudley wouldn't be tempted to bother me. Out of habit I grabbed my wand and slipped it into my pocket just in case something was to happen. I made my way quietly down the stairs and out the front door. I had made sure to lock my door on the way out so that Vernon wouldn't be able to get in and steal my stuff without breaking the door.

I would be able to get back in thanks to a trick I had learned when I was younger and lived in the cupboard under the stairs. I had figured out how to pick almost any lock thanks to the times when I had to go to the bathroom and my relatives wouldn't let me out.

There was a park not too far from number four and that's where I planned on heading. I decided it would be a good idea to jog there instead of just walking as that could serve as part of my conditioning. By the time I reached the park though I was regretting that decision as I bent over and gasped desperately for air trying to fill my lungs. Every time I breathed in it felt like my chest was on fire and I was forced to admit I was in even worse shape than I originally thought.

I spent a few hours just wandering around the park or observing the people who walked through it. Everyone kept their distance from me since I was known as the town criminal after all. I was a delinquent in everyone's eyes thanks to the Dursleys and I probably always would be.

I got bored a little while after one in the afternoon, or what I assumed was one anyway. So I made the decision that it was as good a time as any to make my first trip into Diagon alley. I found a secluded spot near the rode and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention and then I drew my wand with a snap.

A loud pop sounded and the screeching of breaks could be heard as the giant purple Knight Bus pulled to a halt in front of me. I didn't pause this time to listen to the options available to me. I pulled out the fourteen sickles and deposited them as I walked by Stan Shunpike. I picked one of the seats closest to the front as I knew that Diagon Alley was the next stop and I wouldn't be on the bus any longer than five to ten minutes.

The ride was just as horrible as I remembered from my third year and I barely stopped myself from getting sick. I practically ran off the bus as it came to a halt. I couldn't wait until I had other options of travel available to me. Once I was of age I was never going to take the Knight Bus again. I passed through the Leaky Cauldron and out into Diagon Alley, but I made sure to draw the hood of my robes up so that it would be harder to recognize me. I wasn't taking any chances with getting caught out by one of Voldemort's men or someone I knew from school. I had no doubts that Professor Dumbledore would not approve of what I was doing right now.

My first stop was going to be Gringotts so that I could withdraw money for the things I was going to buy today. I had a good amount on me, but I wasn't quite sure how much I planned on getting today and what could wait. It was only a short walk later that I found myself passing through the front door and once again eyeing the warning above the door. If I didn't know any better I would have sworn that the two goblins at the door were smirking at me as my eyes dropped from the plaque. I fingered the key in my pocket as I approached one of the free tellers.

"Hello, I would like to access my vault please." I slid the key across the desk towards the bored looking goblin behind it. He picked it up and eyed it for a moment before his eyes seemed to bulge and he immediately perked up.

"Mr. Potter it is very convenient that you have come here today. There has been an issue with your account and we sent a letter this morning requesting your presence here to correct it. You will be allowed to go to your vault after meeting with Iron Tooth. He is the Goblin who is in charge of the Potter accounts. Follow me now, I will take you to his office."

I had a million questions running through my mind as I followed the suddenly energetic goblin down the hall to the left. The creature had clearly said accounts when he was speaking, but too my knowledge I only had one account. I was also curious as to what could have caused an issue with it, I barely withdrew anything from my vault.

I was lost in my thoughts and nearly bumped into the teller as he came to a halt.

"Here you are Mr. Potter. Now one thing you should know is that Iron Tooth is highly regarded in our society as are all goblins who work on our larger accounts. In order to treat him with respect when you enter you should address him as such: Good day Honored Iron Tooth, may your gold grow and your enemies blood flow."

I nodded mutely and did my best to memorize the strange greeting. Without saying anything else the teller goblin walked away and left me outside the door. I knocked and waited until I heard what sounded like a strange garble from the other side before entering. I stepped into the office and the first thing I noticed were the two large body guard goblins that stood imposingly on each side of the door with spears in hand. Directly in front of me was an older looking goblin seated at a large desk. The rest of the office was rather plain with a simple bookcase a few lamps and a weapons rack. I hesitantly approached the desk in front of me and the Goblin I assumed was Iron Tooth. He was hunched over some paper scribbling away and mumbling to himself in what I only assumed was some goblin language. I cleared my throat to gain his attention.

"Good day Honorable Iron Tooth, may your gold grow and your enemies blood flow." Just to be safe I added a small bow at the end figuring that it couldn't hurt to go a little over the top when dealing with a race of creatures known to start wars over less.

The toothy smile I received in return to my greeting was unnerving to say the least. I wasn't sure if he was going to kill me or simply amused that a human was using a goblin greeting. I prayed it was the latter of the two options though.

"Good day to you as well Mr. Potter, and may your wealth continue to prosper. I am glad you have arrived in such a timely manner. I was reviewing your accounts today and came across some peculiar things that I needed to discuss with you. Please take a seat so we may begin and get you on your way, time is gold after all."

I did as instructed and sat in the chair on my side of the desk. It wasn't nearly as ornate as the one Iron Tooth sat in, but I was just glad that I wouldn't have to stand the whole time. "Thank you Iron Tooth, but before we start I had a question. You mentioned accounts and to my knowledge I only have one account."

"This is true Mr. Potter you do only have one account technically and that is the Potter Family account. However the vault you currently have access to is a trust vault and so it reads as a separate account because each year an allowance is put in there for you to use until such a time where you can access your actual family vault." I nodded my head as he explained it to me and strangely that made sense to me as I thought about how long of a family history I had. The Potters were apparently a very old family so it would only make sense that they had a family vault. "Now normally you wouldn't be able to access the family vault until you claimed Lordship of your house. That should have been on your 17th birthday since their isn't a current Lord of your house. However this morning I noticed that on your account ledger it is now listing you as Lord Harry James Potter. I tried to find a reason as to why it would do this, but none was forthcoming at the moment. This is a strange situation and leaves us with two options. The first being that you can accept this and access your family vault starting now, and the other is that you wait until we can do a more thorough investigation into your accounts and make sure that someone has not tampered with our records."

I couldn't think of any reason why someone would tamper with my records just so that I could get access to more money and whatever else was in my family vault, but at the same time the whole situation seemed off. The last time I had felt that something was wrong it had resulted in a friend losing their life, so I made my decision. "I want you to do an investigation and forward me any results as to what caused this change."

Iron Tooth picked up his quill and made some notes on the parchment in front of him. "That is a very wise option Mr. Potter. You may not understand the reason for it, but this investigation may save you significant amounts of gold in the long run. If someone has tampered with your accounts it is possible that they are trying to gain access to your larger vault for their own gain. As of right now the only people with access to your accounts other than yourself are your magical guardian, Albus Dumbledore, and Sirius Black."

I couldn't believe that Sirius or Dumbledore would try and steal from me. I was sure both of them had more money than they knew what to do with. So now I was honestly curious as to what had caused my change in status.

Iron Tooth finished the notes he was making on his parchment and then looked back at me. "Now Mr. Potter, there is one other issue we need to discuss before you go. This one is not really related to your accounts; it is more of a personal matter. When you first came to this bank the summer before your first year a dark presence was felt and it triggered our alarm wards. At first we thought that maybe someone was trying to impersonate you, but after further inspection we found that the dark presence had been radiating from your scar."

Involuntarily my hand reached up and touched the scar etched into my forehead. "My scar set off your alarms? How is that possible?"

"We asked ourselves the very same question Mr. Potter. So we did some research and took a further look into things that could cause such a reaction. We originally only did it so that we could improve our own alarm systems. However upon discovery of what exactly was in your scar we felt it necessary to disclose the information to you."

I suddenly had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I noticed the grim expression on the goblin's face. I knew goblins were not known for being friendly creatures or doing favors lightly so this was most likely going to be something horrible. Regardless I needed to know.

"Well what is wrong with me? Or rather what is wrong with my scar?"

Iron Tooth, opened a drawer and handed me a thin folder with a few sheets of paper in it. I began to leaf through them as I listened to him explain what I was looking at. "Your scar is what is known as a horcrux. It is very dark and obscure magic that essentially makes you a soul carrier. As to whose soul your carrying well that should be obvious to you by now."

I very nearly threw up as I realized I had just been told that a piece of Voldemort's soul was living inside of me. "What does that mean though Iron Tooth? What good does it do to put a piece of his soul in me?"

"That is the thing; a horcrux prevents someone from dying. If you were to kill the dark lord right now, he would not really die because a piece of his soul still resides inside of you. That means that the piece of his soul that would flee his body if he were to die would try and link up with the piece inside of you and take over your body. That folder I handed you contains other instances of horcruxes in the past. None of this information was easy to come by and as such Gringotts has taken partial cost out of your family vault since we are being kind enough to share this with you." Iron Tooth flashed me a predatory grin and I suddenly realized why the goblins were being so helpful. I had pretty much funded their research.

"That's fine, but what can I do about this horcrux? There has to be a way for me to get rid of it right?" I did my best to not sound desperate but I was pretty sure I failed. Who could blame me though, I had just been told that Voldemort couldn't die because part of him lived in me, and then I had a sickening thought. Part of him had lived inside of the diary that Ginny used in second year to open the chamber. What if he had made more horcruxes?

"Unfortunately Mr. Potter the only way to rid yourself of that horcrux is for you to die." I stood up and nearly fell over as the blood rushed to my head. "However! There may be a solution in you dying. Normally when someone dies, there soul will flee their body. Theoretically since you have two souls in your body if you were to be hit with a killing curse you might find yourself in limbo or at a crossroads of sort. Where you will either absorb the remaining parts of the fragmented soul or it will simply pass on. Both situations have their benefits and negatives of course."

I sat back down as I tried to understand what Iron Tooth was suggesting. "So your saying that if I was to be hit with a killing curse that it might not kill me, but instead it could kill Voldemort's soul and then I would have the opportunity to absorb the remains? Why would I want to have any of that monster in me?"

"Actually Mr. Potter the answer is quite simple. If you were to absorb the remaining pieces of the shattered soul you might possibly gain some of the knowledge it possessed. However it may also happen that nothing comes of you absorbing the remains. In the end this is all just theory and nothing like this has ever been attempted. If you were to decide to try this method Gringotts would be happy to provide a confidential service for a price. We have a wizard on hand for executions and other sensitive matters that we do not wish to stain our hands with."

I was floored as I listened to Iron Tooth calmly describe to me how I could pay him to let some maniac shoot me with a killing curse. My first instinct was to scream hell no and get the hell out of the office, but then I stopped to consider the options. If I let this horcrux continue to live inside of me then Voldemort could never die and I would essentially be responsible for hundreds if not thousands of people dying. Also it wasn't like I had a whole lot of people that would miss me if I were to die in the process. Ron and Hermione weren't my friends anymore as far as I knew and Neville and I were just starting to become friendly. Daphne had made it clear that she wouldn't miss me. Really the only one who might miss me would be Sirius, but even he had Remus to keep him company now.

"I want to do it. Take the money and let's do it now." I couldn't believe it as the words came out of my mouth. I wanted to take them back, but I knew I was doing the right thing. All the innocent people I could potentially save made my choice only that much easier.

"Excellent choice Mr. Potter. Please raise your hood and stand in the center of the room. I will send one of the guards to fetch the wizard. It will be better off if he does not know who it is that he is killing though." I nodded and pretended to listen as I walked slowly to the center of the room and put my hood on again.

It was strange to know that in a few minutes my whole life was going to be over. I wasn't even upset if I was honest. I hadn't done anything but cause people to die or get hurt ever since I was born. First had been my own parents, then Sirius, Ron and Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Cedric, and the list didn't stop there. This was the best option for everyone.

I heard the door open behind me and knew that my executioner had arrived. I didn't turn around because I was afraid I might lose my nerve if I was forced to watch the spell rush towards me. I watched as Iron Tooth nodded at the person behind me and then I heard a rushing of wind past my ears and I felt a burning sensation in my back and then my world went black.

When my eyes finally opened again they felt heavy like someone had tied bricks to my eyelids. I suppose dying took more out of a person than I had planned for. It took a minute for my eyes to fully adjust to the bright light around me, but when they did I found myself in shock. I was standing in a replica of King's Cross Station. I guess to be more specific I was standing on platform 9 and 3/4. Every detail down to the cracks in the pavement was there.

The only oddity I could find was a carriage of sorts near the edge of the platform. Cautiously I approached it still not sure what was going on. As I got closer I noticed that something was moving in it. Instinctively I reached into my pocket to draw my wand just in case. However I was disappointed when I found that both of my pockets were empty. Preparing myself for anything that was about to happen I closed the last few feet between myself and the carriage and peered inside. Whatever I had been expecting it was certainly not what I found there.

Inside was one of the ugliest looking babies I had ever seen. Well to be honest it was pretty much the only baby I had ever seen, but I imagined most did not look like this thing in front of me. Its skin was practically reptilian and it looked like it had scales in some places. Instead of a nose it had two slits and its eyes were more serpent like than human. Its mouth was opening and closing but no sound was coming out. It was completely hairless and as I observed it I noticed that the skin seemed to be decaying by the minute.

The only guess I had was that this thing was the form that the soul inside of me had taken. It was quite accurate of how Voldemort had actually looked when he returned just smaller. I couldn't tell if the goblin had been right about me being able to live because only one soul would be taken because as far as I could tell both of us were trapped. That's when I heard the whistle blow in the distance. Off to my left I could see the headlight of what I could only assume was the Hogwart's Express. I stood fixated as I watched it pull into the station and the brakes locked up to slow it to a halt. Sparks flew from the rails at the new friction on them and I stepped back so as to not have one land on me.

When the train had finally stopped the door closest to me opened and a man dressed like a conductor stepped out. He looked around the platform and his eyes lit up when he spotted me.

"You there! Come along now hurry up and come here so we can get you on your way my boy!" He moved towards me, but suddenly the smile that had previously adorned his face dropped when he noticed the carriage. "Oh well this is certainly unusual. It seems that you contained multiple souls. I can't say I've ever experienced something like this before. Well I guess this is your lucky day then. For the most part you seem to be intact and much better off than this piece."

I watched for a minute as the conductor bent down to inspect the soul fragment closer before I finally was able to open my mouth and for words. "I knew there were two souls in my body when I died, but what does that mean for me? Am I going to be able to return to life or am I just going to be stuck here?"

I was nervous and excited at the prospect of having another chance. Even though I had jumped into the decision of letting myself be killed that didn't mean I wanted to die. I was doing it for the greater good. I paused at the thought of that and then snorted. Oh Dumbledore would be so proud of me for using his excuse for everything.

The conductor rubbed his chin and then looked at me before smiling again. "Well it's up to you I suppose. I'm going to take this thing, so if you want to go back you can. Otherwise you can get on the express here and it will take you onto the next great adventure. I can give you a minute if you need, but I do have a schedule to keep so I need your decision quickly."

It really wasn't any option for me. I knew I had to go back to the real world. Part of me wished I was selfish enough to leave everyone behind to deal with Voldemort and everything else on their own, but I just didn't have it in me. "I'm going back. How do I do it?"

The conductor stood up straight and clapped his hands together. "Excellent, you should automatically return once I take this little bugger and the express leaves. However one last thing before I go. Would you like to combine the remnants of this soul, that is to say it's last little bit of life, with yours? It will speed up its process of passing and get us both on our ways. Otherwise we'll have to wait for it to die naturally."

My first response was going to be a hell no. There was no way I wanted any part of Voldemort inside of me, however I also didn't want to be stuck here any longer than possible. If I was gone too long the Dursleys would freak out and I still had other things to attend to today before I went back to Privet Drive. "What will happen if I combine the fragments? Will it make me like it? I don't want to become the monster that Voldemort is."

The conductor shrugged at me. "Honestly it will be the first time I have seen such a thing done, but there isn't a whole lot of anything left here. Maybe minor memories, some knowledge, and the slightest bit of a personality. It's actually highly possible that you combine the two and gain nothing from it. At most I would say you would have a few memories not your own and possibly have knowledge of a few spells you didn't before. So what's it going to be?"

I was still nervous about combining the two, but gaining some memories of Voldemort's life could be helpful. Especially if I was lucky enough to gain anything related to the horcruxes he might have created. I nodded my head and stepped forward. It was like I was on autopilot and knew what to do as I reached forward and laid my hand flat on the face of the serpent child. My palm began to heat up and I wanted to pull away, but a force kept me held firmly there. The longer I kept my hand there the darker the skin grew. After three minutes had passed I felt my hand released and I was able to pull it away. When I did the serpent child was no longer breathing and instead of blackened dead skin like it had started now it was practically see through. It reminded me strongly of my first impression of the ghosts at Hogwarts.

Once more the conductor leaned down, but only this time I watched as he picked up the child and started to walk towards the express. He stepped up onto the train and turned to wave at me as it began to move again. I waved back and as the train drew out of sight my vision became foggy and then I was blinded.

When I was able to see again I was staring up into the face of Iron Tooth. I was lying flat on the floor of his office and the goblin looked concerned, or as concerned as goblins could be. He jumped back when he saw my eyes were open and then I felt myself being hoisted onto my feet. I turned my head to get a look at who was holding me up and found it was the guards who were at the door earlier.

"Welcome back Mr. Potter. It seems that our wager has paid off, or at the very least you aren't dead. Please retake your seat in front of my desk and then let us discuss what happened."

I did as Iron Tooth instructed and gave him a condensed version of all that had happened to me. He steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them as he peered at me.

"So is there any noticeable difference now that you have combined the pieces with your full soul? Do you feel any different?"

I hadn't thought about it, but as of yet I didn't feel any different and couldn't recall any memories that weren't mine. I didn't know if it would take time or that like the conductor suggested nothing came of the combination.

"Honestly I don't think anything happened. There was so little life left in the soul piece that I think I couldn't gain anything from it. I'm not upset about that though. At least now I won't have to worry about suddenly having random urges to kill muggleborns." It seemed like my joke was lost on Iron Tooth though and that was when I remembered how blood thirsty goblins were. He probably had random urges to slaughter people all the time. I continued on happy that I was going to be able to get on my way. "Well if that was all the business we had for today then I would like to withdraw some gold from my trust vault Iron Tooth." The goblin nodded at me and then led me out of his office and back to one of the tellers. The two exchanged words in that strange goblin language I had heard earlier and then I was being led down to my vault. Ten minutes later I was walking out of the bank and my bag enchanted to be bottomless so I had a pretty sizeable sum of galleons with me.

I had been dead longer than I thought and it was nearly six thirty when I had left the bank. I was only going to have time to try and find a way to get more food and possibly some nutrition potions today. It didn't bother me too much since now I knew I would be able to make trips to Diagon Alley every couple of days or so. My first stop was the apothecary to see if I would be able to purchase some nutrition potions. I had read about them last year and knew that they could only be taken when one had a proper diet also, but if used correctly they had the ability to heal most effects of malnutrition. If I took them for the majority of the summer I might actually look like a normal child and not a skeleton by the next term.

It seemed luck was on my side today as the man behind the counter had been more than helpful and not only sold me fifteen already made potions, but also gave me a kit that contained all the ingredients I would need to brew another thirty. I wasn't the best at Potions, but I figured without Snape breathing down my back I could brew the potion well enough for it to work. I paid the man and thanked for his help and before I left I made sure to ask him if he knew where I could buy food. He told me to go down the road towards the Leaky Cauldron and on my right I would see what passed as a grocery store in the Wizarding world.

It only took me about two or three minutes to locate the store and soon I was inside looking around for something I could use. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for, but I knew I would need a way of either storing a large amount of food or something that would bring food to me. Having no luck searching the aisles I decided to ask one of the witches who was standing at the front counter. There was one who looked roughly my age, but I couldn't recall seeing her at school at all. I figured she would be my best bet though as the others were either occupied with work or looked like they would rather be anywhere else.

"Excuse me miss, do you think you could help me?"

I was rewarded with the girl jumping back a little bit and clutching her chest as it rose and fell from her heavy breathing. Apparently she hadn't noticed me coming up to her like I had originally thought. I mentally smirked at that, oops.

"Oh merlin, you scared the magic out of me. Give me a second to calm down and then I can help you as long as you don't do that again."

I took the time to take a closer look at her to see if I could get any sort of clue as to who she was. Certainly she would be going to Hogwarts if she was my age. The clearing of a throat drew my attention and I looked up to find her staring at me. I didn't notice the slight splash of red that tinted both of her cheeks though.

"Umm, well what did you need help with now?"

Out of nowhere I decided to have a little fun with the girl. I raked my eyes slowly up and down her body before finally coming to rest back on her face. The slight blush she had earlier was slowly intensifying. "I am looking for a way to store a large amount of food so that I won't have to make too many trips back and forth to the store. Although if I was to run into such a beautiful girl like yourself every time I came here I might just reconsider…"

I smirked as she was now very red in not only the cheeks but her ears as well. My celebration was short lived though as I suddenly realized I had just openly attempted to flirt with the girl. I would never have done something like that normally. I had a memory flash of how charismatic the Tom Riddle from the diary had been and realized he probably used his charm to get what he wanted a lot. It seemed that I was at least slightly effected by his soul then, but if all it did was make it easier for me to talk to girls who was I to complain.

The girl's blushed had mostly faded before she responded. "Well we have a sort of trunk like object. It has multiple compartments all charmed to different temperatures so that you can store large amounts of food in it. The muggles have something like it called a refrigerator; I don't know if you know what that is though."

I nodded to show that I knew what it was, but something bothered me. "How do you know what a refrigerator is? Actually do you go to Hogwarts? I don't recall ever seeing you before."

I regretted questioning her when I saw her demeanor change and her shoulders dropped. Clearly I had brought up a sour topic. "No I don't go to Hogwarts. I'm a squib and my mum is a muggleborn. We have a refrigerator at home."

I tried to apologize for my rudeness but was cut off. "Don't worry about it, you didn't know. It's just a bit of a bad topic for me since I've been made fun of a couple of times by some purebloods that come in here. I'm sure you know how much they look down on squibs."

I nodded again not sure what to say, and then cursed out loud when I caught sight of the clock. It was already fifteen minutes to eight. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I'll take one of those trunks you were talking about. And does it come stocked or will I have to pick things out on my own, because I don't have a whole lot of time right now. I need to be getting back to my relatives house."

I was able to pick up from her mannerisms that she wasn't happy with the way the end of our conversation had gone, but I planned on fixing that once I had gotten my business settled. "If you don't have a lot of time you can pay now and leave your address and we'll have one of the store house elves drop it off for you later once it is filled. All we need to know is what you want in the trunk food wise."

I wasn't sure what there was available but I didn't have the time to be picky. I could always come back for little things that I needed. "I'm not really sure about specifics but I want a fairly healthy selection. No greasy or fatty foods. My address is number 4 Privet Drive, **INSERT CITY**. Also please have it go to the smallest bedroom and if possible do it in the middle of the night. My relatives aren't very fond of magic."

As she made a few notes on a piece of paper and called for an elf I pulled out my bag full of galleons hoping I had pulled out enough. Another five minutes and I was done paying and had just gotten my receipt. "Thanks for all your help. I can't believe my rudeness from earlier, but I forgot to ask your name." I was noticing a common trend with the girls I talked to and me not finding out there names until just before we parted ways. I'm sure Sirius would be so proud of me if I told him that.

The girl smiled at me. "My name is Meg, and what's yours?"

I hesitated for a moment but didn't let it show. I didn't want anyone to know I had been here today. Thinking quick I used the only name I could think of. "Mine is Tom, it's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance Meg. Hopefully I'll see you again sometime." For added effect I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek as I walked by. I didn't have to turn around to know she was blushing as bright as a tomato. I gave myself a pat on the back at my newly acquired flirtatiousness. Wasting no time once I was out of the store I headed right through the Leaky Cauldron and out to the muggle side where there was enough room to summon the Knight Bus. Another nauseating fifteen minute ride and I was once again at the park.

The man at the apothecary was kind enough to shrink my purchases so I would be able to sneak them in and a simple tap with my wand would re enlarge them. So I took up a slight jogging pace as I headed back hoping that I could find a way to slip inside the Dursley house unnoticed, but already knowing in my heart that it wasn't going to happen.

I was right and my luck had indeed run out because as soon as I opened the door and walked inside I was thrown against the wall. Only inches from me with his meaty fists balled up in my rags of a shirt was a purple faced Uncle Vernon.

"BOY! Where have you been all goddamn day!?"

I flinched as specks of spit flew onto my face. "I've been at the park uncle. I fell asleep there and when I walk up it was dark. I'm sorry it won't happen again." I readied myself as he drew one of his fists back and punched me hard in the stomach. I felt all the wind leave my body as he let go of me and I doubled over.

"Boy if you ever pull something like this again, our deal is off. Now get in your room and I don't want to hear a peep out of you until tomorrow when you make breakfast." He walked away as I used the wall lift myself up. He never saw the glare I sent at his back or heard the thought in my head that promised revenge for everything he had done to me. I shook my head to clear the thought as soon as I registered where it was coming from and ashamed at myself for even thinking like that I trudged up the stairs to await the delivery of my magical refrigerator.


	3. Shocking Revelations

**A/N Decided to keep updating this for now, and I also updated my other story. There is a cliché later in this chapter involving a ring, but don't worry its only there as a very minor part of the story much later on. Hope you enjoy reading and review to let me know what you think!**

It'd been two weeks since my first foray into the alley on my own. Since then I had been back four or five times to look around or just get away from my relatives. They didn't seem to mind this arrangement at all though, since it meant I spent a lot less time in their life. I had received a reply from Neville last week that contained a schedule for the classes we were going to be attending. They wouldn't start until the week after my birthday, but I had purchased a few books related to the culture and history of the Wizarding world so I wouldn't be completely lost when they began.

Since I had begun doing my exercise routine and now I was eating a normal amount of food I had begun to put some healthy weight on. The nutrition potions I had been taking were working better than I could have ever hoped for. No longer could I see all of my ribs when I looked in the mirror. I still had a long way to go until I would be fully fixed from the malnutrition, but so far I was happy with the results.

I walked to my trunk fridge and grabbed the bag of apple crisps off the top of it. They were my favorite snack food that I had found in the grocery store so far. They were much healthier than the oily potato crisps that Dudley was so fond of, but didn't sacrifice any of the flavor. Thinking about the grocery store made me remember the girl I had met there.

I had stopped in to the store on two other occasions since my first purchase. Meg had been there the last time and I had managed to talk to her for a little while more by saying I needed her help in locating some items. Her shift had been just about over when I had gotten there so surprising myself I had asked her to go out for dinner with me. She had blushed that pretty shade of red I was becoming accustomed to seeing on her cheeks whenever I was around and said she would like that, but didn't have anything to wear.

I didn't want to lose out on my opportunity though and I had insisted that if the only thing stopping her from going was clothes that I would buy her something to change into to. I knew I had the money for it and wasn't worried about one outfit breaking my vault after all.

My proclamation had caused her to stammer and try and turn me down, but I was insistent. After a minute or two of her weak protests she had given in and agreed to let me buy her something to wear. I had paid for my groceries and then waited patiently outside while the last fifteen minutes of her shift came to an end.

I'd amused myself by watching the different witches and wizards that came and went into the grocery store. It was comical to observe people when they thought no one else was looking at them. The things they would do were often hilarious, but also disgusting in some of the cases.

Meg had come out of the store a few minutes past the hour. Deciding to try out something I had read about in my book of Wizarding culture and decorum I approached her and offered my arm. She had laughed and called me old-fashioned, but looped her hand through it none the less. Surprisingly no one even looked in our direction as I escorted her to Madame Malkins to pick out something to wear. It seemed that the book had been right about this being very common place in magical society.

It had taken Meg only fifteen minutes to pick out a soft blue summer dress to wear. The dress was very simple, but it suited her well. And the way it clung to her now very noticeable curves made my heart skip a beat or two. I did my best not to eye her like a piece of meat, but I knew I failed somewhat because of the giggling that had ensued when she had caught me staring at her backside.

We made light conversation over a nice meal at one of the restaurants in the alley and the night went surprisingly smooth. If I was honest it had to have been one of the most normal moments of my life. No one was trying to kill me, no nefarious plot, not even a blonde ponce to mock me. It had just been two normal teenagers out on a date and having a good time. Afterwards we went and split a sundae at the ice cream parlor.

We had been mostly silent while we sat and ate at the ice cream parlor, until I noticed that she had a little bit of the chocolate fudge still at the corner of her mouth. Now the Harry Potter before he died for the second time would have just told her and then felt bad for pointing it out or something. Instead the reborn Harry Potter leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth.

When I pulled back she had this gob-smacked expression on her face. Deciding to have a little more fun I had shrugged and then told her I was just helping her get the little bit of chocolate she had on her face. She blushed hard and dropped her eyes to her lap, but I caught her sneaking glances up at me shyly for the rest of the time.

After that I escorted her to the Leaky Cauldron so that she could floo home. She thanked me for the clothes and the date. I wasn't sure how we were supposed to say goodbye now, so I went for what I deemed to be the best option and I leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the lips. It wasn't deep or anything, more of just a friendly peck. She said good bye one more time and then disappeared into the swirling green flames as she called out her address.

It was weird, but somehow I knew that both us could tell nothing was going to come of our date. We weren't going to wind up in a relationship or falling in love, but I enjoyed the company and the sense of normalcy it gave to my life. For Meg, I think she just liked being treated as a normal person. I imagined that being a squib in a world full of people using magic wasn't easy. Especially with the way part of the population would treat you as a second class citizen.

As I sat looking through the bars on my window I felt my thoughts wander to the only other girl I'd ever been somewhat involved with. I hadn't tried to contact Daphne and she had made no effort to keep in touch. It hurt more than I would have liked to admit, but I figured that was only normal when the very first girl you have sex with wants nothing to do with you after.

I was shaken from my morose thoughts when I noticed a bird in the distance and it seemed to be on a beeline towards me. I strained my eyes attempting to get a better look, cursing my horrible glasses the whole time. That was something else I was going to have to look into the next time I went to the alley. There had to be a way to correct my eyesight or at the very least somewhere that I could get better glasses.

After another minute the owl was perched on the sill outside of my window. I reached a hand through when it offered up its leg which had an envelope tied to it. Carefully so that I wouldn't drop it I untied the string holding the envelope in place and pulled it back through the bars. The owl didn't wait for me to give it any further orders and took off as soon as my hand was all the way back in.

I flipped the envelope over and was only slightly surprised to find the seal of Gringotts on it. With only the slightest bit of trepidation I cracked the seal and opened the envelope. I didn't know why, but I was afraid of what was going to be in the letter. The goblins had done a thorough investigation of my accounts, but what if they had found things I didn't want to know.

If it was revealed that someone had been stealing from my vaults or something like that I didn't know what I would do. This was supposed to only be about my changed status, but I wasn't naïve enough to think the Goblins would just leave it at that. Gathering up all my courage I freed the parchment from the envelope and began to read.

_Dear Lord Potter,_

_As was requested at our meeting earlier this month an investigation had been launched on your accounts and the change of status regarding them. I am pleased to inform you that through the hard work and dedication of our Goblins here at Gringotts we were able to discover the reason behind this anomaly in a relatively short time. _

_However, due to the exact reason it is prudent that we meet in person to discuss any further actions. I would not risk the safety of you and yours by writing such sensitive information down. At your earliest convenience please stop by our branch in Diagon Alley and request to meet with me. I will be awaiting you anxiously._

_May Your Gold Continue to Grow_

_The Honorable Iron Tooth_

_Senior Accounts Manager_

I put the letter down and let out a sigh of relief that nothing had been stated in the letter. It wouldn't do any good for someone to intercept the owl and find out more about my life. I had enough people after me to warrant the slight bit of paranoia I was displaying. At least that was what I kept telling myself.

I glanced back at the old alarm clock in the corner of the room and was surprised to find it was already three in the afternoon. If I left now I could probably make it to the alley and back before eight o clock. The Dursleys had gone out for the day and so I was supposed to stay locked in my room, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt me.

I shoved the letter into my pocket and then grabbed my wand off the top of my trunk. I unlocked the door to my room and raced down the stairs and out the front door. I paused only long enough to re-lock it and then I was jogging to the park. It took me less time to reach it than my first few trips as I was slowly building up endurance thanks to my constant training. I could now maintain my jogging pace much longer. One short, bumpy ride on the Knight Bus later and I found myself stepping off in front of the Leaky Cauldron.

It was only as I entered that I remembered I had forgotten to change my appearance or obscure my face. I did my best to brush my hair in the way of my scar, but overall I knew I was still very recognizable. Despite the heat I drew up my cloak around my neck and the bottom of my face as I made my way through the crowded pub. It seemed everyone was getting off work for the day and was now stopping in for a drink or two. Thankfully I made it unnoticed to the wall leading to Diagon Alley.

I wasted no time as I stepped through the hole and set off at a brisk pace for Gringotts. Luck really was on my side today I decided as I managed to draw minimal attention to myself. Once inside I let the cloak fall back down onto my shoulders and made a beeline for the closest available teller. As I stepped up to the window the Goblin looked up at me and his eyes widened.

"Lord Potter it seems you are most anxious to have your meeting. Please follow me and I will take you to Iron Tooth's office."

I was amazed at the quality of respect and service I was receiving from creatures known to be rude and not very friendly. Still lost in my thoughts about why they would suddenly treat me better I didn't notice right away that I was standing in front of Iron Tooth's door.

A clearing of the throat from the goblin teller who had escorted me brought me back to the present and I had the decency to look sheepish about getting caught daydreaming. I thanked the Goblin for escorting me and decided to give him five galleons. I wasn't sure what possessed me to do it, but for some reason it just felt right. After all I doubted very many wizards ever tipped goblins for their services, so this might be a good way to create a rapport with at least one of the creatures.

The teller bowed low and then excused himself back to his desk as I knocked on the door. I didn't have to wait long for the gruff "enter" from the other side. I twisted the knob and gently pushed the door open. I tipped my head in acknowledgement to the two guards on either side of the door and then proceeded up to Iron Tooth's desk. We exchanged greetings and then he told me to take a seat as this meeting was going to take a while.

I found my earlier nervousness returning as I made myself comfortable. Once I was ready I took a deep breath and then waited patiently for Iron Tooth to begin.

He finished organizing some papers on his desk and then looked up at me. A toothy grin broke out across his face which did nothing to relieve the nervousness I felt.

"Let me be the first congratulate you on being the new Lord Potter. It has come sooner than we here at Gringotts were expecting, but this just allows us, me specifically, more chances to grow your wealth."

"Thank you Iron Tooth, and I appreciate your continued loyalty to my accounts and I know they are in good hands. However I still don't know the reason that I am now Lord Potter."

I did my best to keep my irritation and impatience out of my voice but it was eating away at me that I didn't know what was going on.

"Ah yes, let us get down to the heart of the matter. You are now Lord Potter, a fully recognized adult by the Ministry of Magic. This has come about for a simple reason really. You cannot be an heir of an Ancient and Noble house when you yourself have an heir on the way."

As I processed the words that Iron Tooth had said I found myself choking on my own saliva. I was coughing and sputtering as I pounded on my chest to try and get some air back in my body. When I finally got myself under control I was hoping Iron Tooth would say he was just joking, but he still wore that same toothy grin.

"I have an heir on the way? How is that possible?" I had been talking to myself, thinking of the only girl I had ever done that with but Iron Tooth must have thought I was talking to him.

"Well you see Lord Potter, I'm not sure I'm qualified for this but oh well. When a young wizard and witch love each other or at the very least drink too much sometimes they will get together and decide to…"

"STOP! Oh dear Merlin. I was being rhetorical Iron Tooth; I know how children are made. It's just that I've only ever done that with one person and I can't believe that on my first try I go and bollocks it up."

A sound that I assumed was a goblin's form of chuckling came from Iron Tooth and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow waiting for him to elaborate on what was so funny. "Well Lord Potter, I'm no expert on this subject. However if you were able to create an heir on your first try I don't think you messed it up, in fact I would say you did it correctly."

I didn't know that goblins had a sense of humor, granted it was at my expense, but it through me for a loop and I found myself unable to decide if I wanted to throttle Iron Tooth or just shake my head. Eventually I settled on the latter option and waited for the account manager to get himself under control before we continued.

"Now as I was saying before we got sidetracked. You are the Lord Potter now because you have an heir on the way. According to these papers here the woman carrying your child is one Daphne Greengrass. You have no choice but to accept the child as your heir, but you can decide if you want to recognize Miss Greengrass as a member of the Ancient and Noble house of Potter."

I was confused and not afraid to voice my questions out loud. "What do you mean by recognize her as a member of my house? Are you talking about marriage? Because merlin knows I am way too young to be considering getting married. Hell I'm not even dating the girl; the last time we saw each other she said she wanted nothing to do with me and that I should never contact her."

Iron Tooth began making notes on his paper work and I waited patiently as he scribbled away on the parchment in front of him. "Very well, I'm going to send this letter to Miss Greengrass right now and request she join us momentarily so that we may discuss this issue. In the meantime I will do my best to answer your questions. No just because you recognize her as a member of your house does not mean you will have to marry her. You would be taking her on as a ward of the house. However this would make you responsible for her living conditions, food, clothes, and other basic needs."

I didn't have any more questions that could be answered until Daphne arrived so I sat back and tried to work over all the details of what I already knew in my head. I don't know how long I sat there, but finally I heard a knock at the door and nearly gave myself whiplash as I snapped my neck in the direction of the door.

I heard Iron Tooth call out enter from behind me, but I didn't dare move my eyes from the door. This would be the first time I had seen Daphne since our altercation on the train and I was hoping it would go better. However I also wasn't considering the circumstances that we were meeting under. To my surprise though she didn't look at all angry. In fact if anything she looked the happiest I had ever seen her. Granted she still wore a cold smirk, but in her eyes I could see a little light that made them soften immensely.

I rose from my seat as she approached and once she was close enough I brought her hand to my lips and kissed the backside of it. "Miss Greengrass it's always a pleasure being in your company, please take my seat." Silently thanking whatever god was out there that Tom Riddle had been a ladies man and not gay I pulled the chair forward a little as she moved around me to sit.

"Thank you Harry, or do you prefer Lord Potter now?" There was a teasing tone in her voice as she spoke and I got the distinct impression she was mocking me, but I kept myself under control.

I stood behind Daphne and rested my hands on the top of the chair careful not to accidentally pull her hair. We both stared at Iron Tooth waiting for him to proceed with this meeting.

"Good now that you are both here we can begin making arrangements for this situation we find ourselves in. Miss Greengrass are you aware that you are currently carrying the heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Potter?"

I had expected her to be shocked and deny it being true, or even angry at me. What I didn't expect was the one answer she gave.

"Yes Honorable Iron Tooth. I became aware of this only a day or so ago myself, but I was delighted by the news. I had hoped the fertility potion I used would work when Lord Potter and I made love and it seems my wish was granted."

My world slowed to a halt at the words fertility potion. Daphne had wanted to get pregnant? Not only had she wanted to get pregnant, but she had wanted me to get her pregnant. That left me with only one question. "Why?"

Daphne didn't even bother to turn and look at me when she answered. "It's simple Harry. In fact I told you already why I did it. Remember our discussion about what was going to happen to me? Well it was all true, but my reasoning for sleeping with you was slightly altered. Your family is one of the oldest there is, and on top of that it is one of the wealthiest. I knew that if I had your heir that I could provide my family with a way out of this war that is coming."

I honestly didn't know what to feel, but I couldn't help but think I was still missing something. How was her having my heir going to help her family? In fact all that would do would put her family in more danger now. Hiding any emotion I was feeling at the moment I spoke up. "How does this help your family? It's only going to put them in danger when the news of this comes out to the public."

I saw Iron Tooth lean back in his chair and smirk a little harder than normal as he silently observed the conversation Daphne and I were having and I couldn't help but want to knock him off that chair for putting me in my current position.

"Yes my family would be in danger when this eventually comes out, but thankfully they will be hidden away far out of reach of anyone who would wish them harm. That's where you come in. I'm going to play on your Gryffindor chivalry here Harry. You knocked me up and now as a result my whole family is in danger. It's only right of you to allow them to move into your family home and then have protections put on it so that no one can reach them."

I was angry as I listened to what Daphne was telling me. She had used me after all. There had never been anything between the two of us. It was simply all a clever plan of hers to get herself and her family out of the war. I couldn't believe I had let this happen.

"What if I was to say no to your request Daphne? Did you ever account for that happening?" I let some of my anger seep into my words in hopes of covering up the lack of conviction in my statements.

I didn't even need to look at her face to know that she was smirking at me. "No I didn't because it was a nonfactor. If you did say no, which you wouldn't then if something were to happen to me or anyone in my family it would be your entire fault. You would have to live knowing that you could have prevented the death of someone, but chose not to. Is that really what you want hanging over you?"

I knew she was right; my attitude had changed thanks to the merging of the souls in my body, but there was no way I could leave an entire family to die. That would make me no better than the people I was going to fight against. Resigned to my fate I let out a sigh. "Fine, I'll take care of your family. However there is one condition on which I do this. I want an oath from you."

I noticed Iron Tooth lean forward in his seat and suddenly look a lot more interested in the events unfolding in front of him. I imagined it wasn't often that he had such a strange case in his office.

For the first time Daphne turned her head to look up at me. "What kind of oath do you want Potter? I'm not going to become a slave to you or something." She sneered at me as if thinking I was going to ask for some perverse deal, but it was really the exact opposite.

Now it was my turn to smirk at her. "Don't worry Daphne it's nothing like what you are thinking. In fact all I want you to do is make a witch's oath that you will not become sexually involved with anyone until you have consulted with me about it. I wouldn't want to tarnish the name of my house after all by letting you run around doing whoever."

With speed I wasn't expecting Daphne was out of her chair and only inches from me. I felt a wand jab me in my stomach, but I wasn't fazed by it. Instead it caused me to smirk that much more. "Go ahead and curse me Daphne, and then our deal will be no good. I think I'm being very reasonable right now all things considered. You used me and played with my emotions, and even had the nerve to try and turn me against my actual friends. I don't know how I could have been so stupid, but I plan on correcting the mistakes I made."

We stood there for at least five minutes, probably longer. Then I felt the wand drop from my stomach and saw her deflate in front of me. The fire and anger left her eyes and now there was just a resolute sadness to them. I was cheering in my head at the small victory over her, but was cut short when I felt her hands wrap around my back and then her lips were on mine. I didn't even have time to kiss her back before she pulled away.

"I may have used you Harry, but that doesn't mean there was nothing between us that night. I admit I tricked you. I even went as far as to use a compulsion charm on you to make sure you would wind up in that room with me. But you need to look at this from my perspective. If you were in my position and had a chance to keep your family from a war where hundreds are going to die, wouldn't you do anything to give them that chance? I'll make your oath now though."

I wanted desperately to believe what she was telling me, but there was a part of my mind that kept telling me she had lied once already. I shook my head to clear the fog that had settled in when she had kissed me. "I can't trust you Daphne. I want to, but you lied to me and used me. Make the oath now and then I will have Iron Tooth start the preparations for you and your family. Aside from the day that my heir is born I don't want to have any contact with you."

I could of sworn I saw her eyes start to mist up at my last statement, but it was gone so fast and her eyes were hard once again that I couldn't tell. She raised her wand and then began to speak. "I, Daphne Greengrass, swear on my life and magic to not engage in any sexual or physical relations until I have consulted with Lord Potter and gained his approval first. So mote it be. Do you Lord Potter accept this oath I have made?"

I held my wand in a similar fashion to Daphne and then spoke my part. "I, Lord Harry James Potter, accept your oath. So mote it be."

There was a bright flash of blue and a line of gray momentarily connected our two wands before fading away and leaving us standing there staring at each other.

I turned to Iron Tooth and addressed him for the first time since Daphne had arrived. "Thank you Honorable Iron Tooth for not only calling this meeting, but also bearing witness to our oath." All I received was a nod in recognition before Iron Tooth was once again furiously scribbling notes on his paper. From the spot next to me I heard Daphne begin to speak.

"I will be returning home now. When should I tell my family to expect to be moving? I wish to give them ample time to pack."

I had no idea how long it would take to make my family home livable so I looked to Iron Tooth. "Well with any luck the goblins could have the Potter family home repaired within two weeks' time. Gringotts will send a letter two days before the completion of the wards so that your family will have a warning. If there are no more questions from you Ms. Greengrass then I bid you a farewell."

I could tell Daphne was being dismissed and apparently she could as well for she turned on her heel and left the room, but as she walked by me she let her hand fall down and for the shortest of moments it fell into mine. Then it was gone and once again I found myself staring at Iron Tooth. I waited for the sound of the door clicking shut behind us to begin talking.

"Well this has been a hell of a day. Alright Iron Tooth, what do I have to do to start getting my family home ready for them? Also now that I know why I have access to my family vault I want to accept the full lordship so that I may visit it."

The goblin pushed across a few sheets of paper to me and I picked up a quill that was laid on top of them. I did a quick scan of the papers to make sure there was nothing in them that we hadn't talked about already, but found that everything was in order. The repairs and warding of my family home weren't going to cost as much as I had initially assumed which I was grateful for.

I quickly signed that paper and then handed it to Iron Tooth as I began looking over the next one. It was short and simple stating that I would be taking full ownership of my vaults and claiming the lordship left to me. I signed that one and was surprised when I suddenly felt warmth on my ring finger. I looked down to see a silver ring set with rubies in it now there.

"Ah that is your family ring Lord Potter. By claiming full lordship you are required to wear it. This is actually useful to you though as all of the Ancient and Noble houses have certain protections on their rings. I am not sure how much you are aware of about the old times, but it used to be fairly common for members of families to poison each other. So the ring will heat slightly if it detects a foreign substance in food or drinks near you. I believe there is also a modified confounding charm on the ring as well. It will make it harder for people to read your thoughts by simply scrambling them. It's not a fail-safe method and can be beaten by experienced users of the mind arts, but it's better than nothing."

I listened in awe as Iron Tooth described what the ring could do for me. I wasn't quite sure what he was talking about when he mentioned mind arts, but I figured I could find that out on my own at some point so I didn't bother to ask. I knew it was getting late and I still had to beat the Dursleys home or I was going to be screwed.

I handed him the second sheet of paper I had signed and then looked at the last one before me. It was the form saying that I accepted Daphne Greengrass as a ward of House Potter. I hesitated only for a second before signing across the bottom of that one and pushing it across the desk to Iron Tooth.

I watched as he gave the documents a quick look over and then nodded his head in satisfaction. "Very well Lord Potter everything is all set and our business is concluded. Can you find your own way out or would you like for me to summon an escort?"

I politely turned down the escort and then gave the proper leaving greeting before turning and making my way out of the office. I made it into the main lobby of the bank when I heard my name being called out from behind. "Lord Potter wait a moment please, I forgot something."

I looked around hoping no one had heard the goblin call out my name and was relieved when it seemed like everyone was too caught up in their own business to notice one wizard. I turned to address Iron Tooth as he approached.

"Yes Iron Tooth what was it you forgot to tell me?" I had spotted the time and knew I had to be home in less than thirty minutes so my patience was about to wear thin.

"Now that you are a fully recognized wizard, the trace on your wand has been lifted. Therefor you can use magic whenever you please. If you had achieved full emancipation in any other way this wouldn't be so, but because you have an heir the ministry makes an exception because they want the parents to be able to defend the child should the need arise. So you and Miss Greengrass are now capable of using your wands outside of school with no issues. That is all I had to tell you."

That was certainly the best news I had heard all day and I once again exchanged farewells with Iron Tooth before leaving the bank. I moved as fast as I could without running to get through the Leaky Cauldron and to the Knight Bus stop. I was surprised when I wasn't the only one to be using the Knight Bus this time. Normally I boarded and exited alone, but this time a woman in a cloak with her hood up followed me onto the bus.

I shrugged it off and paid Stan the required amount before telling him my destination and then taking a seat close to the front. Thankfully it was only a ten minute ride to Privet Drive and I was soon off the bus and running towards number 4. I had just enough time to notice the female who had boarded at the Leaky Cauldron with me getting off the bus before I was around the corner and heading to the Dursleys.

I thought it was strange since I had never known of any other witches or wizards to live in Privet Drive. I brushed it from my thoughts for the moment though and tried to pick up the pace as I was now racing against the clock to make it back before the Dursleys. I felt a wave of relief wash over me as number 4 came into view. That relief turned to dread and panic though as I saw the lights were on inside the house and the car was parked outside.

I stopped at the corner of the street debating whether it would be easier to say fuck everything and run away or to go inside and face Uncle Vernon. In the end I gave in and started at a slower pace towards number 4. I stopped about halfway across the road though when I noticed that the woman in the cloak I had seen get off the Knight Bus was now trying to get into Mrs. Figg's house. My inner Gryffindor came out and I made my way as quickly and quietly as I could towards the woman. I reached the edge of Mrs. Figg's yard just as the woman got the door unlocked and went inside. I moved forward and ducked down so as to not be spotted through the window in the top of the door. Slowly I twisted the knob and was happy to find the door still unlocked. With my wand held in one hand I used the other to gently push the door open. I didn't want to alert the intruder that I was there so I only opened the door enough to slide inside before closing it again. There was a light on in the kitchen, so I crept stealthily along the hall. I was familiar with the layout of Mrs. Figg's house because the Dursleys used to drop me off at her house when they went out on trips. Her house always smelled funky and she had a lot of cats, which I was hoping I didn't run into.

As I reached the entranceway into the kitchen I could see the woman in the cloak moving at the far side. Her back was to me so I couldn't get a good look at her face, but judging by the trace amounts of gray in her hair it was a fairly older woman. Gathering up the courage that I was famous for, I stepped into the kitchen and leveled my wand at the back of the intruder.

"Turn around slowly and keep your hands raised. If you try anything I swear to merlin you won't like the consequences." My voice didn't waiver once while I threatened the possible death eater and I found that I enjoyed the feeling of having the upper hand for once.

I watched as the woman froze in her movements and slowly raised her hands up above her head. She slowly started to spin around to face me and I nearly dropped my wand in shock when I finally got a look at the face before me. Mrs. Figg looked nearly as shocked as I felt when she saw who it was that had her at wand point.

I almost lowered my wand, but then I had a flashback of the previous year with the impostor Moody. As far as I knew Mrs. Figg was not a witch, so there was no reason for her to be coming from Diagon Alley. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Mrs. Figg?"

Surprise flashed across the face of the impostor Figg. "I am the real Mrs. Figg. Please Harry lower your wand and let me explain. I don't mean you any harm."

I was surprised that Mrs. Figg knew what a wand was and that only strengthened my conviction that this woman was an impostor. "Mrs. Figg is a muggle; she wouldn't know what a wand is and definitely wouldn't be coming from Diagon Alley. You have one more chance to tell me who you are before I take you to Dumbledore."

I don't know why I said Dumbledore, but he seemed the most likely to deal with a death eater problem if that's what this was. Anyway the name Dumbledore got a distinct reaction from the impostor Figg.

"Yes! Dumbledore can sort this all out. He's the one who assigned me here Harry. He told me to come live here so that I could keep an eye on you while you grew up. He was worried about how the muggles might treat you. And I'm not a muggle Harry; I'm just a normal squib."

This time I did let my wand drop to my side. Thankfully it seemed that this really was Mrs. Figg because she didn't make any move to attack me. Dumbledore had left someone here to watch over me? He knew all these years about the abuse I suffered. He knew about the lack of food, the forced labor, the hateful rumors, and he knew about the cupboard.

I could feel my anger rising and the stress of the day was only serving to fuel it more. The air started to crackle around me and the room heated up. Mrs. Figg backed up a few feet but I didn't do anything to stop her. "Why did he never do anything to stop it? Why did he condemn me to a life in hell?"

Mrs. Figg stood petrified in fear of me and remained silent. This pushed me over the edge and I slashed out with my wand. Her kitchen counter was hit with my blasting hex and bits of marble flew around the room. Mrs. Figg flinched and fell backwards. I took a step towards her as I demanded an answer.

"I don't know! Dumbledore just told me to report to him how you were being treated. I don't know why he never stepped in. Please, I begged him to do something when I learned how bad you were being treated. I wanted you out of there so bad, but he just said you had to stay there for your own protection."

I paused in my advance on the woman and took a moment to get my anger under control. I had done so well all day keeping my emotions in check, but it seemed like I was still the rash, stupid Gryffindor I was trying to change. I cast a quick reparo at the counter I had destroyed and watched as it began to rebuild itself.

"I'm sorry for blowing up your counter Mrs. Figg. I lost control of my emotions and I took it out on you. Now though we have a bigger problem." My voice trailed off and was barely above a whisper as I said the last part. "You know that I can do magic outside of the school without getting in trouble. I'm assuming you also saw me at Diagon Alley which is why you had your hood up. These are two things I just can't have you telling Dumbledore."

Mrs. Figg was still sitting on the ground where she had fallen when I blasted the counter. I took a few quick strides until I was standing only a foot or so away from her. Mrs. Figg was already a short woman and so from her seated position I assumed I looked like a giant. I could see the fear in her eyes and wondered just what she thought I was going to do to her. Hell I didn't even know what I was going to do. I wasn't nearly advanced enough to attempt a memory charm, and there was no way I could just kill the woman.

What I needed was an adult who I could trust. Someone who could perform the memory charm and that wouldn't reveal my secrets to Dumbledore. Only one person came to mind and I wasn't even sure I could get in contact with him without Dumbledore finding out. Then I had a stroke of genius.

"Mrs. Figg how do you get in contact with Dumbledore? Do you have a floo system?"

The woman nodded and pointed at her den where I could just spot the corner of a fireplace. I started to walk in the direction of the den, but then turned around and cast an incarcerous on a surprised looking Mrs. Figg.

"Sorry Mrs. Figg. It's nothing personal, but I can't have you trying to run off or something while I make a call. Now sit there and wait until I come back." With my now hostage safely secured I proceeded into the den. It only took me a minute to locate the tin of floo powder in a drawer of an end table. I wasn't sure if my idea would work or not, but I had to at least give it a shot.

I started a small fire and then fed it until the flames began to roar to life. I took a moment to enjoy the warmth that spread through my body before I dropped the floo powder into fire. The flames erupted in an emerald burst and licked the edges of my face, but did not burn me. I cleared my throat and then with no hesitation or stutter said, "Sirius Black."

I waited for a moment and then stuck my head in, I was about to step the rest of the way in when I realized I was looking out into a dimly lit living room. The furniture for the most part was covered in white sheets and a thick layer of dust. The only exceptions seemed to be one three person couch and a large recliner off to the right. Both were of a matching black fabric, trimmed with silver. The couch was complete with blood red pillows and I found myself wondering if they really were dyed in blood. I was confused as to what was going on, until I heard a very familiar voice coming from the hall.

"Sirius!" I yelled out hoping he could hear me.

"Huh? Who's in the bloody fireplace? Oh it's just you Harry. Wait! HARRY!" I couldn't help the smile that worked its way onto my face as my godfather came sprinting across the room to kneel in front of the fire.

"Pup! How did you get access to a floo? Aren't you at the Dursleys? I begged Dumbledore to let me bring you here, but he said you had to stay with them. Are you okay? You didn't run away did you?"

"I'm fine for now Sirius. And I'm actually at Mrs. Figg's house right now. I have a problem here and I need your help. No I didn't run away either. If you come here I can explain everything."

Sirius suddenly became very serious and nodded. "Alright Harry, stand back and I'll come through the fire right now."

I did as Sirius said and backed away from the flames. The next second he came walking out of the fireplace and then the flames died down and turned back to their normal orange selves.

"Alright Harry I'm here. What's this problem you need my help with?"

Instead of answering him right away I gestured for him to follow me which he thankfully did. As we entered the kitchen I heard him gasp from behind me as Mrs. Figg came into view.

"Harry why is Mrs. Figg tied up? What's going on here?"

"Sirius did you know Mrs. Figg was here watching me all these years? Dumbledore left her here to report about the Dursleys treatment of me. He knew all along about how horrible I was treated Sirius! Yet he did nothing. I accidentally let my anger get the best of me and Mrs. Figg saw me do magic and not get a letter from the Ministry. She also saw me at Diagon Alley today. These are things I can't have her telling Dumbledore Sirius." I didn't say the rest, but instead used my eyes to communicate what I was trying to get at.

I watched as my godfather went through an internal debate about whether or not to help me out. "Fine I'll do it, but once it's done you and I are going to have a long chat and you are going to explain what is going on and what you've been up to."

I nodded my head eagerly in agreement and stepped out of the way. I watched with more than a little curiosity as Sirius stunned Mrs. Figg and then pointed his wand at her temple. "Obliviate!"

It was over in a matter of seconds, and I found myself wishing I could learn how to do that. I banished the ropes binding Mrs. Figg which earned me a raised eyebrow from Sirius.

"Alright let's go back to my place so we can have our talk now pup. Mrs. Figg will wake up in a few hours and think she just slipped and hit her head."

I followed Sirius back into the den and almost ran into him when he stopped short.

"Now I'm going to tell you something and I want you to focus on just remember it okay? The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at Number 12 Grimmauld Place."

I did as I was told and concentrated on the address and suddenly it was like a cloud had been lifted in my mind. I'd never been to the place that was mentioned but I had this understanding of where it was. I nodded to let Sirius know it had worked. He dropped a pinch of floo powder into the fire and called out the address. One by one we stepped through and I felt like I might be sick by the time the room stopped spinning. Unsurprisingly I landed on my ass as I came out of the fireplace.

"I swear I'm just not cut out for magical travel unless it's on a broom." I tried some humor but judging from the look I got from Sirius he wasn't in the mood. "Alright so I don't even know where to begin this messed up story."

Sirius walked over and sat down in the reclining chair while gesturing for me to take a seat on the couch. "The beginning is usually a pretty good place to start."

I shook my head and smiled. "Alright, well you know what happened at the tournament; I was pretty shaken up so I just wandered around the school that night. I was trying to find a place to just think and be alone, but instead I walked into a room that was already occupied." I saw Sirius's eyes light up and cut off his train of thought before it began. "No it wasn't occupied how you are thinking. There was one other girl in the room. I later found out her name was Daphne Greengrass."

Sirius interjected at this point. "Greengrass? They were on of the neutral families in the first war. They managed to avoid choosing a side thanks to money and some clever politics. Overall they aren't a bad family, but there are some rumors of them using spells labeled as dark magic. Anyway sorry to interrupt please continue on."

I picked up my story. "Anyway so I've got this bottle of fire whiskey and at first I'm just sitting in the corner I was banished to, but then I offer her some and we start drinking together. We wound up finishing the bottle really fast. Since we were both drunk we get to talking about why we are there and suddenly I'm telling her everything about the last task. I don't know why, but it helped me. And she tells me why she is up there. Apparently she found out her father had been receiving a lot of pressure to marry her off to Malfoy. She was worried that with the return of Voldemort she would be forced into a contract."

Sirius winced at that last part. "Ouch forced into a marriage with that stuck-up ponce. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

I nodded. "Neither would I, which is why when she suggested we do something to benefit each other I eventually gave in. This part is a little more embarrassing than the rest. So she says she can help keep my nightmares away if I will take her purity so that she won't be as valuable to Draco. It sounds ridiculous now that I think about it and I should have known something was up, but anyway so we have sex."

Sirius jumped out of his seat this time. "ALRIGHT! Way to go Harry! If Daphne looks anything like her mother Abigail than you bagged a real beauty."

I couldn't help but agree as I recalled the image of Daphne naked under me. "So I thought it was just a one night thing, and it has been. But then today I received a letter from Gringotts saying that I needed to come for an urgent meeting. Apparently my status changed from heir to Lord Potter. So anyway I get to the bank and low and behold Daphne is there waiting for me. We had a meeting with Iron Tooth who oversees the Potter accounts. He explained to us that the reason my status had changed was because Daphne was umm…well…she's pregnant with my heir."

I closed my eyes and waited for the barrage of reprimands about being irresponsible and careless, but nothing ever came. When I finally opened my eyes Sirius was staring at me slack jawed. "You got her pregnant? Harry that's….that's….I don't even know what that is, but I guess congratulations pup. You're going to be a daddy soon! That also explains why you can do magic now, you must fall under that clause the ministry has for teenage parents."

Out of all the reactions I had been expecting from Sirius the mature and understanding, supportive one was not it. "Wait so you're really not mad at me about this? I mean I got this girl pregnant Sirius and I barely know her."

Sirius just shrugged at me. "There's no use in me being mad pup. What's done is done and you can't take it back now. Besides you've got almost nine full months to get to know this girl better, and then who knows maybe you two fall in love after all. So why do you seem so upset about this?"

"I don't know Sirius; I mean this isn't how I wanted my life to go. And then I also found out she planned this whole thing from the beginning. She put a compulsion on me to make sure I would find her that night. She even took a fertility potion to make sure she got pregnant. When I asked her why she said she was doing it so that I would be forced to offer her family protection since by getting her pregnant I had put them in danger."

Sirius smirked at me. "Well seems like you got a real Slytherin on your hands with this Daphne girl then. She manipulated you and I'm assuming you gave her just what she had wanted all along. Looks like the Greengrass family will once again avoid the war thanks to some clever scheming. I can see why you'd be upset now, but think of it this way. You're saving lives and trust me when I say that without you, her family would most likely be dead in weeks once they refused the Malfoy's contract."

I hung my head in defeat. "I know Sirius, but I hate that she lied to me and that I was manipulated into sleeping with her. I just don't know what to do now and so I told her that I didn't want to see her again until it was time for the child to be born."

"I can't help you with that one pup. You two are going to have to work out what you want from this. It's not my choice at all. Anyway I can see why you would want to keep all of this a secret. If Dumbledore had found out about you leaving Privet Drive he would have flipped and probably sent more people to monitor you. Also you are going to want to keep this a secret for as long as possible. After what happened during the last task and Voldemort being reborn we can't be too careful."

I nodded my head in agreement, but then I remembered something. "Sirius what about the book that shows every pureblood's family links? Won't it show that Daphne is having my heir?"

Sirius rubbed his chin and looked thoughtful for a few minutes before he answered me. "You should be good there pup. The book won't update until the kid is actually born, because things could change between now and the due date. I hate to be negative, but Daphne could die or get hurt and have a miscarriage. So for roughly another nine months you can keep this completely secret. She can even cover up any weight gain with a glamour charm if she wants."

That set my nerves at ease to know I would have at least until my child was born before the questions would start. "Sirius can I ask how you would handle this situation? I mean the lying and deceiving part of it. I want to trust her again; she is going to be the mother of my child after all. That's important and she should be around to have a part in our child's life if she wants, but how can I know she won't always have some plot or bigger goal?"

Sirius let out a laugh that sounded more like a bark. "Honestly if I had gotten myself into your situation I don't know what I would do. However you say you want to trust her which tells me you feel something for this girl. I'm not saying you like her or anything all I'm saying is you feel something. She's gone and dug her way under your skin which is irritating you and until you scratch that itch you're just going to get more and more frustrated. DO you understand what I'm trying to get at?"

I smiled and decided to tease my godfather a little. "So in the midst of the two or three muggle sayings you butchered in that explanation I think I heard something about scratching Daphne. Is that what you were getting at? I'm not sure she's into that Padfoot, but thanks for the advice."

Sirius just stared at me gob smacked. "I can't believe it Harry. From all I've heard about you from Ron and Hermione this is not at all what I expected you to be like after what happened. It's like you're an entirely different person. They said you would brood and blame yourself, but here you are joking around and getting girls pregnant."

I knew Sirius was right and I wanted to tell him it was because I was at least a partially different person, but that was one secret I was going to keep to myself. I could already see the headlines about me being the dark lord reincarnated if it was to get out that I had absorbed his soul. Then something from his comment struck me. "When did you talk to Ron and Hermione? I haven't heard from them at all. I know we had a fight at the end of term, but I expected them to at least make an attempt to talk to me."

"They've been staying here Harry. In fact you just missed them. The Weasley's are hosting one last dinner at their house tonight before all of them move here permanently for the duration of the war. It's infinitely safer for them here."

I couldn't believe it. Ron and Hermione were getting to live in the same house as my godfather, while I was forced to live in Dursley hell. I didn't know what Dumbledore was playing at or what his end game was, but before the end of my fifth year I was sure as hell going to find out. Thinking about my friends I once again found myself wondering if I could trust them. I had planned on apologizing after I found out Daphne had manipulated me, but in reality none of that had to do with turning me against my friends. She even told me to not take her advice because the results would be the same. I cut my train of thought off because I didn't want to think about Daphne right now and ruin my good mood.

Unfortunately Sirius and I weren't on the same wavelength though. "Well Harry, we should be getting you back to the Dursleys' before the others return and spot you. Also it would seem that you have some decision making to do about how to handle your new situation. All jokes aside you asked for my opinion and here it is. James chased after Lily for seven years because she wouldn't give him the time of day. Here you have a beautiful girl throwing herself at you, so don't pass up the opportunity to get to know her because of one mistake she made. You can't always judge a person by their one action."

I nodded and stayed silent knowing that Sirius was right and eventually I would have to give Daphne a chance. After all she hadn't done anything to harm me. She did what she did for a noble and selfless reason. It was very Gryffindorish of her actually and I planned on bringing that up the next time I talked to her, whenever that was. It was sure to get a rise out of her and she was very sexy when she got angry, as I had noticed in the bank earlier.

"Alright so how are we getting to Privet Drive? We can't use the floo in case Mrs. Figg is awake."

"Don't worry just hold onto my arm and I'll have us there in a jiffy."

I did as I was told and grabbed a hold of the offered arm. The next second I felt as if my entire body was being squeezed through a tiny pipe and I clung to Sirius's arm desperately. It was over almost as soon as it started and when I unclenched my eyes and they flew open I found myself staring at the door of number four Privet Drive.

It was almost ten o'clock now and I knew I was pretty much dead as soon as I walked through the door. I wanted Sirius to leave before Vernon came outside so I turned to him and hugged my godfather. "Thanks Sirius, for everything. I'm glad that I have someone I can trust. I'll let you know what I decide to do with Daphne."

I waited until he walked to the edge of the property and disappeared with a pop before I slowly and quietly turned the door know to let myself in. I was barely five steps into the house when I heard the footsteps coming from the den. I slid my wand into my hand just in case it became necessary to defend myself.

Vernon was almost entirely purple from rage and looked remarkably like a grape thanks to his current shade and weight. However the thing that attracted my attention the most was the double barreled shotgun clutched tightly in his hands. What I had done to invoke enough rage for him to consider shooting me I didn't know, but I sure as hell wasn't going to just stand there and let it happen.

My wand flashed up before he could register what was going on and I whispered the first spell that came to mind. "Pretificus Totalus." It flew from my wand and hit Vernon square in the chest. With a snap that cut through the air his arms and legs were firmly locked to his side and the shotgun fell with a clang to the floor.

I could see the sheer terror in his eyes as I advanced slowly towards the now defenseless man. Before I reached him Petunia rushed out of the den and stepped in front of her husband. She started shrieking like a banshee at me. "YOU KILLED VERNON! YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND! YOU'RE DONE FOR NOW BOY I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"

She made to move towards the kitchen but another petrifying spell later and she too found herself immobile on the floor next to her husband. I moved past their bodies to peer into the den where I knew Dudley was most likely cowering. Sure enough I wasn't disappointed when I saw the boy's enormous rear end sticking out from behind the recliner. It really was a pitiful attempt, but I suppose when you are as big as that boy hiding places are few and far between.

"Dudley come out into the hall now and I promise I won't curse you. I just want to explain the new rules of the house to you and your lovely parents all at once. I'm not in any mood to repeat myself so this will go much smoother if you're all here and pay good attention."

I smirked as the boy seemed to tense behind the chair, and then slowly stand up and shuffle his way out into the hallway. I took amusement in watching his eyes flick back and forth from my wand to his parents prone forms.

"Don't worry Dudley they aren't dead. I merely petrified them so we could set some ground rules. As we can all see I now have full use of my magic and no letters are being sent to the house. This means that I will now come and go as I please. I won't be doing anymore chores either. I think it's about time Dudley earner his keep around here. I've worked as a slave for my whole life and I'm sick of it. Also just so we're clear here. If you attempt to stop me from leaving or force me to do any chores I'll take much more severe action then this. As is Vernon and Petunia, you'll be able to move again in a few hours. However if you were to ever threaten me or god forbid touch me again; well you might find that the next time I'll do something a little more permanent to you. Blink once if you understand all I have just told you." I waited until I got the required blinks, even from Dudley who could have just spoken verbally but was apparently too scared to. "Very well then I'm glad we had this talk. I'll be going to bed now since I've had such a long day filled with all sorts of news. I'll do you a favor though and get up and make breakfast tomorrow since you've been so agreeable about all this and I really don't mind the cooking all that much."

I gave a little wave of farewell before making my way up the stairs. Thinking ahead I placed an impermeable charm on the door to make it slightly more resilient in case Vernon or Dudley were to have any dumb ideas of killing me in my sleep. Once I was inside I placed a final locking charm on my door and then transfigured my old rag of a blanket into something slightly comfier before stripping down and getting some much needed sleep.


End file.
